


Make Me Human

by assassinsneedlovetoo



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blow Job, Creatureverse, Fluff, Language, M/M, Mild Blood, Mutual Masturbation, Needles, Past Prostitution, Witches, baby creature, creature!levi, ereri, levixeren - Freeform, lots of fluff, riren - Freeform, rivaiere, takes place in a land where mythical creatures aren't just stories, tw needles - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-01-14 01:12:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 52,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1247140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/assassinsneedlovetoo/pseuds/assassinsneedlovetoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During the night of hunting duty, Eren is attacked and captured by an unknown beast of the night. After becoming a prisoner, Eren is forced to stay with the beast and soon finds out that this creature is not what tales have made him out to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Attacked

     Hunting at night had never settled well in my stomach, yet here I am with two other members of our village. I think the village council forgets that it’s actually more dangerous for humans to leave the village at night than it is during the day. That and maybe there should be more than three of us here while doing the hunting. Three people won’t get us anywhere if we have to supply food for everyone in the village. At night, danger lurked around every corner, not only from wild animals, but from mythical beings and the "creatures" of the night. No one knows what these creatures look like. The only known description of the creatures are told through some old wives tales that have been passed down from generation to generation in our community. Those who supposedly did get a glance where never found alive, only some writings in a journal about the creatures would be found. Some people act nonchalant about the matter at hand; some, like myself, have a deep suspicions that we’re always being watched by them.  
I grab my cross-bow after finishing packing my other hunting equipment in my satchel, waiting for the other two to hurry up and follow suit.

“You guys finished yet?” I asked, ready to get tonight’s adventure over with.

“Yeah just a sec!” Armin stated from behind his giant bag of supplies.

“Armin, we’re going hunting, not camping!” Thomas, the last member of our trio, had stated as he joined me at the door, waiting for Armin to hurry up.

“Ok guys, just one more thing.” I look to see Armin hoisting his bag onto his shoulders and reached out to grab a book. His favorite book to be exact. The one his grandfather gave him as a kid before he passed on from this world. Armin would never put the book down, no matter where we were.

“I know you love that book and all, but that’s not exactly going to help us get food for tomorrow” I stated.

“Yeah, Eren’s right. It won’t help us with catching anything or if we get attacked by something out there. Maybe you should just leave it behind for once?” Thomas had a point. _Surprisingly_.  

“Oh come on you guys! This book can definitely help us if we come into contact with any of the strange beings, like witches, werewolves, vampires, you name it!”

“What about the "creatures" of the night?” I asked in a more serious tone than I really wanted to let out, emphasizing "creature" with air quotes. “Will that book show us how to defend ourselves against creatures with fangs and a piercing glare that is said to make a man’s heart stop beating just from one look alone? What about their claws that can snap a man’s neck just by one strong squeeze of their fist? How will that book help us if they aren’t even documented!?”

“Eren, calm down.” Armin’s voice was low, almost a whisper. “Those creatures are just folklore, passed down by oral tradition. They are not real. If they were, they would have been documented by now, and trust me, none of the books I’ve read mention anything about the creatures at all, and trust me, I have read almost every book in the library.”

We exit from the storage house with our equipment in hand and the nights essentials were packed away in our bags. The walk towards the main gate was rather silent after Armin's reply. I couldn't stay upset with Armin for too long. How could you? He was not only my best friend, but the nicest guy I know! 

“I hope you’re right Armin. I hope you’re right” was all I could say before grabbing my lantern and exiting through the main gate of our village.

  
X

  
 It had only been a couple hours into our hunt for food and so far nothing had even made a rustle in the distance. Tonight was going to be a rough night, I just know it. Walking through tough terrain didn't make things any easier.

“How far out do you think we should go before heading back?” Thomas had asked as he reached for his canteen filled with water and took a swig.

“Maybe a few more miles south, and if we are unlucky, then we can turn around and make our way back towards the village.” I replied. _How did I become leader again_? Maybe it was because my best friend couldn’t get his damn nose out of literature while the other one was a complete moron when it came to making decisions. _Yep, that’s exactly how I became leader_.

“Hey Eren, did you know mermaids can also breath air out of their-“

“Shhhh!” I had to cup my hand over Armin’s mouth. “I heard something off in the distance. Possibly deer; a herd of them. Maybe.” But I, myself, was unsure.

I grabbed my crossbow from off my shoulder placing my lantern on the ground, loaded a bolt and readied my aim for anything that could possibly pop out from the darkness. The other two quickly followed my lead, forcing Armin to put his book in his bag. 

“Stay. Quiet.” I said in a whisper, pointing my bow in the direction that the noise was coming from. It was getting louder and louder, almost like it was running from something.

Then silence. The rustling noise had stopped almost like that. We stayed in our positions until Thomas spoke up first. 

“I’m going to take a look” Thomas had stated before I grabbed his shoulder to prevent him from moving forward.

“We’re all going, we can not split up, got it?” The two others nodded. We made our way to where we last heard the rustling sound.

“Eren, look” Armin grabbed my right shoulder and shook it lightly to get my attention “over there. It’s a deer. A dead one.”

My attention was brought to the dead deer. “Fresh kill” I stated as I examined the newly dead carcass, bleeding from claw marks around its freshly broken neck. “But if not shot from one of us, then who…..or what could have-“

“GAHHH-HHKK!!!!" Choking noises came from behind us. "HE-HELP ME!” Thomas was being dragged away by something I could not see. We immediately took off chasing after Thomas, but he was being pulled at a speed that Armin and I could not keep up with. “-ELP ME!” His cry for help soon faded into oblivion as we tried our hardest to keep up with whatever had him in their grasp. The image of him being dragged by his neck while flailing his arms and legs, pleading for help, will forever be stuck in my brain and my conscious.

“THOMAS! THOMAS! WE’RE GOING TO GET HELP” though I had my doubts as to whether or not he could hear me. “Thomas…no…not you too…gone…” I sunk to my knees holding back the wetness that formed in my eyes. This was not the first time someone had been taken or killed while on hunting duty. Reports would always come pouring in as soon as the other members arrived back. 

“Uhhh, Eren? Now is not the time to be on the ground. You need to get up…like now.”  
I whirled my head past Armin to only see glowing silver eyes staring back at us. _Shit_. I couldn't see anything other than those deadly eyes. Not it's form, or how tall it was, or even what the damn thing looked like.

“Armin, I need you to listen to me. As your friend and leader of this group, I need you to go back to the village and tell the elders of Thomas’ abduction, ok?”

“Eren I’m not leaving without-“

“Armin, do as I say!" I had to raise my voice in order for him to listen to me. "I need you to run, and I’ll distract this…thing as you do so, ok? Grab the lantern so you don’t get lost. On the count of three.” Armin, tears streaming down his cheeks, shook his head in approval. He was scared. His face told no lies.

“One.”

The creature’s eyes had thinned into a line, barely visible but still there. Armin gathered his belongings and readied his stance.

“Two.”

The creature was now crouching down, ready to pounce.

“THREE!”

Armin took off in the opposite direction as soon as the word left my mouth. The creature had sprung forward just as I fired my loaded crossbow. It did little to stall the creature as it only scraped past its arm. _SHIT_! Without any cry of pain, I could only make out the shadowy outline of the creature as it ran towards me. But now is not the time figure out what it was, all I know is that I must get away. Alive.

As I started running, legs already tired from the long trek into the woods, the creature had gained on me and I could suddenly see my life flashing before my eyes. _This was the end_ I thought to myself as I propelled my legs forward only to be knocked to the ground by the force of the creature. My face was scrapped on the hard dirt, biting my cheek in the process. Blood and dirt filled my mouth in a sandy, bloody concoction. I started to lift myself up only to have my head smashed back down into the ground by the creature above me. I could feel long, rough talons wrap around my throat, beginning to squeeze. Breathing became harder and harder between the constricting around my wind pipe and dirt clogging my nostrils. _Yep, this was the end of my short life_. _Mikasa, Armin, mom, I love you all_. _Stay safe_. Those were the last words I thought of before I blacked out.


	2. Chained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren wakes up to find himself chained to a wall.

     My consciousness was slowly regaining itself. All I remember was the taste of blood and dirt in my mouth. _What had happened?_ I just couldn’t remember. My eyes felt heavy and difficult to keep open. _Where am I?_ I thought as my eyes slowly peeled open wide enough to see that I was not home. This strange room was dark, only a few stray rays of moonlight seeping through a decrepit looking window. I was cold. Very cold. As I went to move, I felt a restraint on my wrist. They were shackled and chained to the wall behind my back. The noise from the thick chain was loud enough for anyone who might have been sleeping to hear. After a few more attempted pulls on the chain, I gave up. My whole body felt numb and tired. I didn’t have the will power to even try and sit up straight. I laid my head back on the uncomfortable wood flooring and hoped that this was all a dream.

And of course it was not.

“Look who decided to stir.” A deep, monotone voice called from under the cover of night.

My eyes shot open this time, trying to scan the surrounding area.

“Who said that?” I called back, my eyes wandering every corner of this room only to be met with darkness.

“Are you afraid?”

“Afraid of what? Show yourself!” This time, I found the will power to sit up in a normal position, crossing my legs in the process.

“Now what fun is that?”

“I’m getting tired of your shit, SHOW YOURSELF!” I screamed.

An object was thrown in my direction and had hit my face, causing my head to snap to the side. It had hit one of the bruises that had formed on my cheek from earlier this evening. The object landed on the floor and broke upon impact. It was some sort of porcelain figure that now remained as little shards scattered across the floor.

“WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?” I screamed once more, attempting to rub the aching spot with my shoulder.

“For being too loud! Now look what you made me do, that was my favorite figure in my collection. Now I have to get another one to replace it.”

_What the hell's going on? Is this guy for real right now?_

“WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME, WHERE DID YOU TAKE THOMAS, WHERE AM I!? ANSWER MY FUCKING QUESTION!”

Another object came flying my way, this time even bigger. The object had contacted my stomach and rolled down to the floor. I looked down only to be met with the sight of a skull, empty eye sockets staring back at me.

He let out a low, dry chuckle.

My gaze soon drifted back up to the source of the mysterious voice. The sound of soft tapping filled the empty air as the figure started to walk into what little moonlight was shining. The first thing I saw was a foot; a foot that did not belong to a human. The second foot joined the first one, each adorning three large talons in the front and one shorter one in the back. Another step forward and I was able to see this _thing_ completely, except for the face. The figure in front of me was not clothed and I was able to confirm that he was in fact male. I had noticed that his anthropomorphic legs were covered in some kind of thick fur that seemingly ended just below his buttocks; hands having the same fur, just thinner and finer. Each finger sprouting its own claw. It didn’t take long for me to notice that this man or _beast_ had a tail that sprung out from his lower back; long fur sprouting at the tip. _The ever living hell_? I had so many thoughts running through my brain.

This _thing_ most slightly forward. “What do I want with you? Hmmmm? What do I want?” His face was still difficult to see from my position.

“To suck out all of my blood, to drown me in the closest ocean, to utilize me as a snack for your pleasure?” I spat.

“Hmm, as much as that sounds good, that’s not what I want.”

“Then what is it?” I'm beginning to lose my patience again.

“Can’t tell you”

'Why not!?” I raised my voice just a bit.

“Because it’ll ruin all the fun we’re having!” He moved his arms to cross them over his thin chest.

“Last time I checked, being chained to the wall without being told why was not considered fun.” I spat back at him.

This time he did not hesitate to take a long stride towards me so that we were now face to face. His face housed thin, sunken, silvery eyes with strange dark markings that winged out from each eye and down to the tip of his nose. Black, undercut hair was placed upon his crown and his ears were pointed with black fur at the tip.

"Listen here you little shit, consider yourself saved from the other beasts in this god forsaken forest.”

“Beasts? You mean horrible monsters like you!? What are you anyway? Some form of chimera? Werewolf? The Devil himself?” I attempted to pull at the chain behind my back again, but once again i was forced back.

“Let me think…hm… oh yes!” I could practically see the sarcasm radiating from this beast. “I’m what your people call a 'creature'” Two slender fingers on each hand formed the air quote symbol as he spoke. He turned from his position in front of me and turned to look out the window. “Of the night that is. Scared now?” He let out a low growl as he closed his mouth.

My blood had practically run cold. I felt a shiver down my spine and fear soon filled my chest cavity. My heart beat was now racing. _Shit. I need to get out of here. But how?_  I tugged once again at the chain, this time wiggling my shoulders in the process as if it'll help. The chain was clanking with each pull. The creature turn his head back towards me and just glared. I did my best to not look into his eyes for I didn't want my heart to stop right then and there. I shut my eyes and made sure not to open them for anything.

“Don’t bother trying to escape. You won’t be able to if you’re chained up like a dog.”

“Why don’t you just eat me already?” _Just end this nightmare now. Get it over with.  
_

“Not hungry.”

“Crush my neck with your fist; save me for later like you beasts are known to do.”

“That doesn’t sound too fun now does it?”

"Then just make my heart stop. Stare into my soul like you beasts are known to do!”

“And if I had that power you would have been dead already.”

My mouth opened only to shut itself again. I opened one eye, followed by the other. He was staring at me with a blank expression on his face.

He began to speak once again.

“You humans always make weird accusations about the unknown. I don’t get it.” He started to pace in front of me, talons lightly tapping with each step. “Anyway, since you’re loud and annoying, I’m heading outside for a quick bath. Don’t leave me now, ok?” A pause then a deep chuckle had vibrated from his throat.

“Oh, wait. You can’t leave. I forgot.” And with that he exited through the only door in this room. I took advantage of being alone and scanned the entire room. I noticed a key hanging from a hook next to the door. I went to stand  only to be forced back by that damn chain. The shackles were starting to rub my wrists the wrong was. Add that to the list of ongoing pain that was happening throughout my body.

“Dammit” I muttered as I pulled my hardest against the chain. But to no avail. I sat back down, arms still behind my back. The moonlight was still shining through the decrepit window, which meant morning wasn’t until a few hours.

“Armin, you better have made it back to the village. I’m counting on you.”

With that, I laid my body and head back down on the hard wood floor, curling up into the tightest ball my body would allow. My eyes were met by the toothy grin of the skull that impacted with my stomach.

I sighed. _How ironic. Staring death right in the face_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter was shorter than the last


	3. Confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren is faced with the beast and his antics.

     It was early in the morning when I finally stirred. I opened my eyes only to shut them again when I stretched out my stiff legs, letting out a silent yawn in the process. The once dark room was now lit by the rising sun. Looking down, I noticed the little shards of porcelain were missing as well as the skull. My gaze then turned to the opposite side of the room, where the beast was now laying on an old, flat, dirty looking mattress with no covers on. I assume he was still asleep. I watched how his torso rose and fell gently with each breath. He was a lot paler and skinnier than I expected, almost like he’s malnourished, yet well-defined muscle was still visible throughout his body. I noticed how bumpy his spine looked, each vertebrae pushing out against his skin. It was kind of disturbing in my opinion.

Aside from us two beings occupying this room, no _shack_ , there was nothing else in here except a few items that looked out of place. I did, in fact, notice a shelf filled with miscellaneous items, a few being porcelain figures of people. One figure was a dancer, another was man courting a woman in dress. There were maybe seven or eight of these figures, all of people in action. My eyes continued to wander around the beaten, yet very tidy shack. There was a cabinet hanging on the wall opposite of the window. It was cracked open. I strained my eyes to see what was in there, but I was still unable to tell. My growling stomach was what broke me from my gaze at the cabinet. _So this is how I’m going to die, by starving to death._ I sat up, chains rattling, and crossed my legs, letting my head fall in a downward position stretching my neck in the process.

The light tapping of toes hitting the floor was what brought my head back up. _Oh my…That’s a sight I do NOT want to wake up to everyday_ , I thought to myself as my eyes looked away from the junk that was in my line of sight.

“Are you hungry?” Looking down at me, he was the first to speak. His tone was soft, almost caring.

 _The fu-? That’s a major switch._ “Of course I am! Now if I’m going to have to stay like this, could you at least put some damn clothes on? I don’t want to see your balls dangling in my face!”

“Tch…..no manners what so ever.” He stated as he went back to his bed and grabbed a torn rag from next to it. He proceeded to tie the rag around his thin waist, using it as a make shift loin cloth. “Happy?” he said, turning around to show me that he was covered.

“Yes, now go get me food, I’m starving over here!” My stomach growled again, as if proving my point. He began making his way towards the door, but stopped to turn and look at me.

“What is your name?” was all he asked.

“Why do you care?” I spat back.

“Well, seeing as we are going to be such great friends, I would like to start calling you by name.”

Silence. I just stared into his dark, sunken eyes, trying my best not so seem intimidated by his fixed stare.

“Hmp…I see how it is, brat.” And with that, he opened the creaky door and made his way outside.

I waited until I could no longer hear footsteps and began to think out loud. “Damn, how did I get into this mess? Armin, you better be sending a rescue squad my way.” Having my doubts, I looked out the window only to be greeted with full morning sunlight.

X

I must have been daydreaming again because I was awoken from said dream by the sound of the door to the shack opening. He’s back. _I wonder if he has a name. Wait. Why do I care? Why SHOULD I care? I’m his prisoner! I need to get out of here!_ My head turned and looked at the creature as he walked into the shack, each hand holding a decent sized fish. As he walked, little droplets of water were falling from the wet fur on his legs; the hair on his head plastered to his face and forehead. He must have physically dived into the water to catch the fish.

Eyeing his every move, I was the first to speak. “Eren.” was the only thing that left my mouth.

“What?” He asked, sounding a bit confused.

“Eren. My name is Eren.” _No shut up what are you doing you moron!_ I mentally punched myself in the face. I’d actually do it if my hands weren’t tied back with these damn shackles around my wrist.

“Eren. Hm.” He paused. “Well, Eren, I hope you like fish, ‘cause I know I do.”

The fish was thrown on the ground in front of me with a splat. Nothing worse than raw fish. He walked over to his bed and sat down. “Well? Are you going to eat or what?” he said as he tore into the raw fish and started to chew, not bothering to take out the bones. _Gross_.

“I can’t exactly eat this.”

“Oh? And why is that?” he spat with his mouth full of fish guts, lips now stained red.

I rolled my eyes. “For starters, raw fish is bad for the body, a human body anyway. It has to be cooked in order to rid of any bacteria that’s harmful to us. Two, how exactly can I eat if my hands are chained behind my back?” He stopped chewing his food and glared at me setting his fish aside on the mattress, he came over and picked my fish up off the ground and walked back outside. I was eyeing his every move. _What was he planning in that skull of his?_ Not long after did I smell something like a bonfire. No it couldn’t be. I _s he actually cooking my fish?_ _What is this all about?_ I rustled my chain trying to get myself comfortable, my shoulders were staring to hurt really badly. The door swung open a few minutes later and the now cooked fish was gently placed on the ground in front of me.

“Up” was all he said. I stood up, knees wobbly.

He grabbed the key from the hook next to the door and went around my back and unlatched the chain, letting it fall to the ground. He took both of my hands, un-cuffed one wrist only to re-cuff them in the front of my body. _Thank goodness_. My shoulders finally felt some relief. Keeping the key in his hand, he walked back to his fish and began to take the last few bites. I picked up my fish and took a small bite out of it. There was no taste whatsoever, just the taste of burnt scales met my tongue. _It’s better than starving I guess_. I sat back down, crossing my legs and ate my fish at a much slower rate. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. I looked up and made eye contact with him. Something was off, I could tell.

“What?” I asked as he shook his head like he was daydreaming. _Was he?_

“Nothing. It’s just……nothing.”

I gave him one final stare before quickly finishing my meal, skipping the fins and the bones.

“Come on, you’re getting a bath. You’re beginning to stink up the place.” He chuckled as he grabbed my arm and hoisted me to my feet. He led me outside of the shack and went around the back.

“A bath? In what? A bucket? I don’t even need a bath” I lifted my other arm and sniffed my armpit. “See! Perfectly fine!” That was a lie.

“Tch….disgusting. Just hurry and wash up. There’s a bar of soap and a pair of clothes for you to change into when you’re done.”

We continued to walk for a few minutes when my eyes were greeted with the site of a beautiful lake that was carved into the land. His grasp didn’t let go until we were at the edge of the lake. Clear, clean water was at a steady flow throughout it. He pulled the key back out from his other hand and un-cuffed only one of my wrists. I just stood there. I really didn’t want to take a bath, especially with _him_ watching me. “Go on. The water’s isn’t that cold.” He backed off a little and I took that as a chance to take off my boots and socks. I dipped my one foot into the semi-warm lake water. “Come on already! Time’s a ticken’!” I rolled my eyes and began to slip off my shirt. Ok maybe I did stink a little. I then pulled down my trousers, practically feeling his eyes on me. _Definitely leaving the underwear on_. I grabbed the bar of soap from off of the ground and walked into the lake until it was up to my waist. I began to lather the bar under my armpits. It was a sweet, flowery scent that smelled like something women would use, but at this point I couldn’t care less. It actually felt good to be scrubbing all the dirt and dried blood off of my body.

Remembering how it all got there, I turned around to find that _he_ was laying down on his back, relaxing, legs spread wide. Thank goodness for that cloth, otherwise I’d be seeing his….junk for the second time today. After a few more scrubs and a few more rinses, I made my way back to the shore.

“Finished are we, kid?” _Kid? That was a new one._ He stood up from his position on the ground and handed me a towel. I had never noticed how short he was until now. I must have stood at least a good seven inches over this guy, it was actually comical.

“Hey, I’m no kid! I just have a baby face is all” I stated, taking the towel from his furry hands.

“Heh. I know, kid. Now hurry up and get dressed.”

“Speaking of which, where did you get the clothing in the first place?”

“Had them laying around…kid.” He chuckled.

“Enough with the “kid” already!” I hurried my drying process and picked up the new set of clothing. I put on my pants first, a brown set of trousers, then followed by socks and my boots soon after. He started in the direction of the shack, my old clothes in his hands, and I followed soon after, pulling my new shirt on. It was a soft, tan-ish green, long sleeve shirt that came down into a V shape. There were thin strings laced on either side of the V shape, but I couldn’t figure out what the reason for them were. Instead I just followed this weird creature back to the shack.

But why? _Why don’t I just run away and never look back? Now’s my chance! GO! GO YOU GIANT MORON!_ But my legs would not comply with my thoughts _. I don’t even know where I am. I’ve never seen this area before_. _Dammit_. As we reached the shack, he opened the door for me and let me in first. _What does this thing want with me? Why is it being nice? It had to be a part of some bigger plan I’m sure of it._ As he entered behind me, he threw my clothes into an empty bin and walked towards the wall. Picking up the chain, he re-chained my one cuffed wrist, but not the other. Without a word, he place the key back on the hook near the door and walked past me to flop his body onto the flat, uncomfortable looking mattress. He slid on his side so he was staring my way.

“What?” I asked as I sat down, legs folded, back against the wall.

“Nothing. It’s just….you’re lucky.” His tone sounded almost…..sad.

“Lucky about what?”

With a sigh, he rolled over onto his right side, looking away from me. “You wouldn’t understand, kid. You just wouldn’t understand.”

X

Not even thirty minutes pass and I’m attempting conversation with this thing. Maybe to keep myself from dying of boredom? Or was it because I was generally curious about this creature. Maybe I was trying to cheer him up, or something? All I know is that when I’m bored, I’m bored. Give me something to do.

“So what do you do all day?” I asked.

“Exactly what you’re looking at” He replied, still with his back facing me.

“You sleep. Sounds pretty boring.” I found myself idly playing with the cord on my new shirt; eyes fixated on the creatures tail slightly sweeping across the floor.

“Well I do live a pretty boring existence.”

“That sucks” I said coyly.

“You’re telling me.”

There was a long moment of silence. I waited for him to speak, but it looks like he wasn’t about to anytime soon.

“So……got a girlfriend?” I started off.

No reply.

“Boyfriend?” I added.

Still no reply. I watched his ribs expand and contract with each breath, skin moving over each and every bone in the process. _Ok, so I might just die from boredom_. A few more minutes passed and he turned to sit on the mattress. He slowly rose to his feet and stretched his arms up and over his head. _Man, this dude needs to eat a sandwich, drink some beer, anything to gain some weight!_ This time he was the first to speak.

“I’m going to take a piss. Let me know if you need to go as well. If not your ass is staying in here.” He walked towards the door once again.

“I’ll go. Yeah I need to empty the piss sack.” I replied, giving anything to not have to be sitting on the floor any longer. Grabbing the key, he unlatched the chain and we exited the shack, one wrist still free from the shackle. We walked only a few feet away from the shack before he found his tree and started to go. I turned my head to avoided looking at him while in the act.

“Go over there and take your piss already” He said pointing forward in the direction he wanted me to go. “Away from these trees” he continued.

“Why does it matter?” I asked, starting to walk in that direction. “They're all the same, anyway.”

He finished draining his bladder and recovered himself with the cloth. I could feel his eyes on me again. _Great_. _Now I don’t want to go_. But go I did. I finished, readjusting myself and headed back towards the shack.

“These trees are my territory. I don’t need someone else marking in my territory.” He stated.

“Damn, you really are a wild beast.” I stated, sarcastically. I heard him mumbling something under his breath, but it was too low for me to make out what he was saying. I let it slide.

“Where are we even? I don’t recognize this part of the land at all.” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it kid, it’s far away from that little village of yours. I call this the land of isolation, or ‘my home’ for short.” His lips slightly curled upward. Re-entering the shack, he chained my one cuffed hand back to the wall and I once again found myself sitting on the floor.

“So you never answered my question. If not to feed off of my body, then why bring me here in the first place. What value am I to a creature that lives all alone in these dense woods?”

He sat in front on me, mimicking the crossed leg position, arms in his lap.

“Tell you one thing, you make great company. I haven’t had visitors in years!”

“Cut the crap. Why am I here?” He was silent. He got back up and walked towards the shelf against the wall. He picked up one of the porcelain figures and began to walk back, cradling it in his furry hand. He sat down and crossed his legs once again.

“Do you know what this is?” He asked, showing me the figure.

“A figure made of porcelain. Why?” I asked a bit confused.

“But look harder, what do you see.” Using his other hand, he tapped the figure three times with one clawed finger. 

I paused to look at the figure in his hand. “It’s a man.”

“Go on.” He pushed on.

The figure was part of a set. I looked over his shoulder and saw the second piece to the set still on the shelf. Eyes drifting back to the original piece in his hand, I examined it a little better. The figure was bent, extending its hand out for the woman to take. “It’s a man who looks like he wants to court a woman? Dance with her even.”

“Yes, you are correct. A man who loves, not only someone else, but life itself,” He began to twirl the figure in his hand. “And yet, he is stuck like this in his porcelain prison for the rest of his eternal life, watching everyone around him age and die on while he still looks the same. He could break at any moment.” He continued, voice still low. "And he's not the only one stuck like this."

I just nodded, a bit confused, at what he said. How do I even reply?

With that he squeezed his palm hard enough around the figure for it to crack and shatter in his hand, letting the shards fall to the floor. _So much for loving your collection_.

He sighed. “That porcelain prison has been enclosing itself around me for centuries and I’ve just about had it. I need to get out. I need to feel……” a pause.

“Alive?” was all I could say. His eyes slowly met mine.

“Yes. That is where you come in.” his mouth was slightly turned downward. “I need your help, Eren. I need you to help me become who I once was.”

“And what was that exactly?” I pushed on, I wanted to hear him say it.

There was a long silent pause between the two of us. His head drifted down to look at his feet, wiggling his long, taloned toes. He let out a sigh.

“Human.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I rushing things? I feel like I'm rushing things. Anyway, this chapter is longer than the other two! Hope you enjoyed! (my sick humor that is)


	4. Awkward

I sat staring this creature straight in the eyes. “And how exactly am I supposed to help you become human. Again?”

“You need to get me into your village” he replied.

“My village? Why my village? People will have you killed if they saw you!”

“I know they would, that’s the only reason why I haven’t been able to seek help.”

I paused. “So who is it that you need to speak too?”

“An old friend, from before I was turned into this” He gestured to all of his body. “You know her as Dr. Zoe, yes?”

“Yeah, the local doctor. She’s married to that Zakarius fellow. Mike I believe his name was, but what about her?”

“Have you noticed her age at any point during the time spent in her presence?”

I contemplated for a second, trying to remember how exactly she looked. “I can’t say I have. But why does that matter?”

“Think about it. She’s a doctor. She can heal people. She hasn’t aged. Doesn’t that ring any bells?”

Once again, I sat thinking about all the things that were listed, running each through my brain. My mouth opened slightly before whispering “She’s a witch?” just loud enough for _him_ to hear.

“And a very good friend of mine. But unfortunately, she probably thinks I’m dead; haven’t seen her since the change. Also haven’t been able to make it through your villages’ gate.”

“But how come she hasn’t been burned or killed like most witches?”

“She was born with the soul of a good witch. Brief history lesson for you so listen up. There were two types of witches, the good ones and the bad ones. The bad witches cause a lot of mayhem and trouble. They’re the ones who get burned at the stake if caught. The good witches, like “Dr. Zoe”, use their abilities they are born with to help out others in need, which is why I must see her.”

“Then why don’t we go?” _Like now_.

“We can’t. There are others like me who won’t hesitate to attack if we leave the area. So we must wait for them to leave first.”

“And how long will that take”

“I’m unsure myself, a few weeks, months even?”

“A FEW WHAT!?” My eyes widened at his statement.

“Hey don’t yell so loud my hearing is very sensitive,” he stated as he cupped his ears, shielding them. “With you constantly screaming, I’m surprised my ear drums haven’t bled yet.”

“Sorry,” I apologized. “As much as I’d like to help, I can’t be sitting here rotting away until some unknown threat is gone. I have a family and friends to get back to! A life to live!”

He sat there in silence, looking down. “I know,” was all he said. He stood up from his position, grabbing the key and then my wrists, re-shackling them. “I’m going out to find some food, I’ll most likely be back around evening, depending on the catch.” Before walking towards the door, he returned the key to the hook and grabbed a teacup from the cabinet on the wall. He examined the cup before leaving the shack. I sat there in silence until I heard footsteps once again. Re-opening the door and walking in, he placed the teacup in front of me, only this time it was filled with water. “That’s the biggest cup I have so try not to drink it in one whole gulp.” I simply nodded and picked up the cup to examine it. Pink and purple flowers were painted throughout the white cup, even on the inside. “I’ll be back soon” was all he said as he shut the door once more.

I took a small sip of water and placed the cup back on the ground, legs crossed, back against the wall, hands shackled. “This day keeps getting stranger and stranger.” I looked around the room a few times deciding it was best to stay focused on the ceiling. “I sure could go for some of your best beef stew, mom. I just wanna come home right now and pretend none of this happened. Thomas should be alive and I wouldn’t be shackled to this damn wall.” I closed my eyes and smiled. “Armin, I can’t wait to see your stupid face. And Mikasa? I can’t wait to give you the biggest hug, even if your hug crushes my spine.”

X

I had nodded off for a quick nap and was awoken by the sounds of chains rattling. I opened my eyes and saw that the creature was un-shackling both of my hands. “Whad’ya doing?” I asked, groggy and confused.

“Come on, dinners ready.” His voice was very low, close to a whisper. I didn’t recognize his voice until my eyes justified it was in fact him. He hoisted me up onto my feet with just one hand. _For a skinny dude, he sure is strong_. Still tired, my body swayed as we walked, him guiding me out the door. “Careful there, wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself anymore.” He led me behind the shack to a small bonfire with what looked to be a deer leg cooking over it. I finally was able to steady myself and pulled my arm away from his furry grasp. The fire had lit up the now starry night. _Was I asleep for that long? Damn._

Grabbing the leg and taking my seat on the log that was placed in front of the fire, I began to speak. “Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?”

He sighed and sat next to me. I could tell he didn’t know what to say, his face said it all. “You’re the probably first person I’ve ever had social interactions with in centuries. Living in isolation isn’t fun, especially when you couldn’t even say goodbye to loved ones for fear of scaring them off and being burned alive by the rest of the villagers.” He paused to pick up his portion of the deer, still raw and with the fur still on. “That and I also feel bad for hurting you last night. It was the only way I could finally find someone to help me.”

“Hurt like a bitch though” I said, rubbing my cheek. I bit into my deer leg for the first time and it had actually tasted alright. Not overly cooked, but cooked enough to where I was able to consume it and not get sick.

“Sorry,” was all he said and he bit into his deer leg as well, blood gushing out and down his jaw and neck. I couldn’t help but stare as he ate. His eyes were half lidded and looked…sad, like he was lost in the vast ocean that was his cruel existence.

After a few more silent bites, I began to ask him some more questions, this time personal questions. I started off simple. “So how long have you known Dr. Zoe? You said you knew her before your….transformation?”                                                                                                                       

He made eye contact with me and swallowed his mouthful of deer. “Ah, good ol’ four eyes. I’ve known her since I was a kid myself. She was really the only person that I considered a friend. I understood who she was and what she was able to do whereas most others could not.”

“So you guys were close.”

“Yeah, we would get into trouble together, but that’s what kids did. I’m sure you did too when you were younger.”

“Can’t deny that one” I chuckled. “Is…..was she your wife?”

He looked me in the eyes. “No she was not. I was never attracted to….,” he paused “to her like that. So no, she was not my wife.”

The conversation was going steady so I pushed on. “Were you ever mar-“

“Before you ask, no I was never married. No one liked a man who was slowly changing into a hideous beast.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” _If you look past the fur, he wasn’t all that hideous_. I noticed he was long finished his deer leg. His hands idly sitting upon his lap. “How did you? If you don’t mind, that is, uh…..” He was just staring at me, waiting for what was about to say. “How exactly did you, uh, turn?”

He stood up and turned his back towards me. “Forget it, kid. Save it for another day.” He began to walk away then stopped. “I’m going for a late night swim to wash this mess off,” he called over his shoulder, “you’re welcome to join me if you’d like.” He continued to walk towards the lake as I sat there with a dumbfounded expression on my face. _Did he just ask me to swim with him?_ I finished my meal and got up to see where he went and sure enough he was standing but the edge of the lake. _Why not leave while he’s not looking? Go home where you belong!_ My thoughts were running wild in my head.

“But which way is home?” I whispered to myself looking around at the dense forest. “Shit.”

I stared down at the creature who was just standing at the edge of the lake, feet in the water, looking down at what I assume would be his reflection. I watched him a little more as I made my way down the hill. He took off his cloth and tossed it aside, walking farther out into the lake before diving in completely.

I finished making my way down to the lake when he finally reappeared at the surface, shaking his head to rid of water droplets in the process. I took my boots off and well as my socks and set them aside. “How’s the water?” I called out, his head turning towards my direction to look at me.

“So you’ve decided to join me, I’m flattered!” was all he replied as he dove back under the water. I took the opportunity to take off my shirt and pants, neatly folding them and laid them next to my boots. He reemerged from the water and slowly walked towards me. The moonlight and water combo was making his skin shine. Like _porcelain_. I was walking into the lake when he stopped me. “I’m pretty sure you don’t want to sleep in wet undies and I don’t have any extras in the shack.” _So he wants me to strip?_ “It’s not like you haven’t seen me before.” _Thank god the water was covering his junk so at least I don’t have to see that_.

With a grunt, I walked back out of the water and slid out of my underpants, making sure not to let any vitals slip and show. With both hands covering myself, I walked back into the lake until it was safe enough for me to let go. He had already re-swam out far enough that I could tell he couldn’t touch the floor. I swam out towards him. He was laying on his back, letting the water carry his weight for him. He looked at peace, eyes shut. When I was close enough, I began to speak.

“You know people talk about you like you’re some kind of heartless monster who kills just for fun, but none of that is true is it.” I stated.

“I don’t know, kid, you tell me.” He smirked, eyes still shut.

“Well, you did go from heartless bastard to some form of….” _What’s the word I’m looking for? Shit._

“Un-heartless bastard?” He finished my statement.

“Yeah, sure lets go with that. What I mean is….”I paused again.

“That I am way different from what those old stories tell? That may be true, but I wasn’t always like that. At first I was pissed off at the world, I’ve killed people just out of pure anger, but now…I’ve grown used to it and was able to change my ways. I’ve learned to live my life in isolation.” He opened his eyes and looked up at the stars. “Eventually, I want to pass on into the afterlife. I’ve been on the same stretch of land for many, many years, and have grown tired of living the way I am, in a beaten, abandoned shack with no social interaction and a bad reputation from my past.” He turned his head to look at me. “In a way, just like you…I want to go home.”

I just floated there listening to his words over and over in my head. I must have looked sad because he began talking again.

“Cheer up, kid. Once you help me become human again, I’ll live my life the way it was meant to be lived and I’ll be out of your hair.” He floated upright again, before propelling himself up and diving back into the water, his tail hitting the surface and splashing my face. I looked around at the water to try and find him. He popped up on the side of me and splashed water in my face before disappearing again. He did it again but this time I tried my best to splash back. _What’s with these mood swings!_ _We’re seriously having a splash fight right now aren’t we…oh my._

By the third or fourth time he reappeared to the surface, I was the one to splash his face first. He held up his hands in defeat, chuckling low. He began to speak first.

“I don’t think we formerly introduced ourselves.” Making eye contact, he held out his wet, furry hand waiting for me to grab it and grab it I did.

“Levi.”

He shook my hand and I shook his.

“Eren” I replied.

“Nice to meet you.” His mouth was slowly turning upwards into a smirk and I felt something wrap around my leg. I was being pulled down underwater by his tail. I opened my eyes to see him underneath the water as well, staring at me with those silvery eyes that shined bright in the moonlight. He still had a smirk plastered on his face as he unraveled his tail and swam away leaving me to resurface. I inhaled a deep breath and scanned the lake for…..Levi.

_Levi was a nice name, I like it._

I looked farther out and saw him jump completely out of the water, leaving a trail of water behind in the air as he dove back down into the lake. He reappeared in front of me.

“Having fun yet?” I didn’t realize I was the one doing the staring this time and shook my head out of my daze.

“Yeah, but it’s getting kind of cold. I’d like to heat up by the fire before I head to sleep.”

“Go on ahead, I’ll be there in a moment.”

“Ok” I stated and turned around to swim back to shore. I grabbed my neatly folder clothes and walked up to the fire. Placing myself on the log, I sat there and attempted to dry off and warm my body up. I hadn’t even realized I was shivering until my hands crossed themselves over my chest and grabbed onto the opposite arm, rubbing up and down trying to create friction. My legs were bobbing up and down as well. I heard footsteps walking towards me that belonged to Levi. He appeared just a few feet away from the fire, cloth still off. He said nothing and bent down to stand in a quadrupedal position. He slowly turned his head to the side, then quickly shook his whole body, like a dog, causing water to fly everywhere. All I could do was stare. Water still dripped from his legs as he took a seat next to me once again, spreading his legs apart. _Ew_. It was silent, neither of us speaking. Just the sound of the fire crackling and our breathing. I felt I was dry enough and grabbed my underwear and slid them on, still sitting. The pants soon followed and finally the shirt. I have never noticed the shirts smell before. Maybe because I was distracted by other things to notice? But the shirt smelled kind of…old, yet clean. There was something else mixed with the scent but I couldn’t place it.

“Hey kid, why are you smelling your shirt so damn much?” My attention was brought to Levi, who was just staring at me.

“I wasn’t smelling it!” I said, defending myself. My cheeks had blushed a little, mainly because I had gotten caught. I rested my hands on my lap and stared into the fire, hoping he would drop the subject.

“So….uh….” He started but stopped.

“Hm?” I turned to look at him but he was staring into the fire as well.

“It’s getting late, we should head inside.” He got up, deeming himself dry enough, and grabbed a bucket filled with water. I shook my head and stood up, not bothering to put on my boots. He proceeded to dump the water onto the fire and replaced it onto the ground. I didn’t want to say it but I was still rather cold and wished the fire wasn’t put out so soon. Remembering his cloth, he re-tied it around his thin waist and began walking.

We walked back into the shack, his talons tapping against the wood floors being the only sound made. I made my way to the wall with the chain attached to it and laid down, letting my arm fall in front of me waiting for it to be shackled again. “Before you chain me, do you have any blankets I could use? It’s pretty cold in here.” He looked at me from his position near the window. It was once again dark in this room and I could barely see anything. He walked away into the darkness and began to speak.

“I don’t have any. If I did, I’d being using them myself.” He replied, voice low.

“Oh” was all I said and curled myself into a ball.

“I guess you could say I’ve gotten used to it throughout the years.” He paused for a moment and began talking again. “If you’d like, you’re welcome to share this flat piece of junk. With me that is. Only if you’d like though! I’m not forcing you if you don’t want-“

“That sounds fine.” I could tell he was getting flustered, most likely from it being an awkward situation. He was probably blushing but the darkness in the room hid mostly anything and everything. I got up and slowly walked over to the mattress where Levi was sitting. Letting my eyes adjust, I was finally able to see his figure on the mattress, eyes looking up at me.

He was silent as I sat down next to him. _What do I do_? “Hi” was all I said.

“Hello.” He replied.

I slowly crawled behind him and laid down flat on the semi-comfortable mattress. _It was at least better than the floor._ “Thank you. For, uh…letting me share your bed.” I said as I felt him slowly turn to lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling.

“No problem, really.” He said in a low reply. His head turned to the side and looked at me in the eyes. “This is going to sound weird, but is it alright if we…share body heat?”

“You mean cuddle?” I questioned his motives.

“Not exactly cuddling, just sleeping closer to each other. We’d be able to stay warm throughout the night.”

“You’ve got a point.” I said as I slowly shimmied closer to him. I closed my eyes and attempted to fall asleep fast. I want today to be over with. I focused my attention on home again. _I miss my own bed with my own fireplace to keep me warm. I miss dinner with my family. I miss my best friend. I miss everything about it._ My thought was interrupted by the sound of Levi talking again.

“This feels nice.” I opened one eye to look at him through my peripherals and saw that his eyes were shut. “I haven’t had physical human interaction in so long.” He continued.

“I bet” was all I said, trying to refocus on home.

“Good night, Eren.”

My chest started feeling strange. There was a feeling in there that I’ve never felt before, ever.

“Night…Levi.”

X

I woke up the next morning, sleeping on my back and with an arm wrapped around my waist followed by another arm stretched across my chest. His face was inches away from mine when I turned to look at him. I was able to fully analyze his facial features with the morning sun shining through the window. His jawline was thin and came to a small yet rounded point at his chin. His mouth housed thin lips. Curiosity got the best of me and I took my finger and slowly lifted his upper lip to see what his teeth looked like. They looked like a normal set of human teeth, save for his canine teeth which he owned four on both the top and bottom of his mouth. They were also surprisingly white and well kept. You’d think they’d decay and dirty over centuries of time.

I removed my finger and continued to travel my eyes upwards. His nose was slender and had those strange black lines that led to his eyes on each side. His eyelids were lined with very thick lashes that I was unable to notice before. The black markings around his eyes must have hidden them. His eyebrows were barely visible as well due to the markings, but they were in fact there as thin as they were. His ears were next. They looked human as well, just with the added fur that came to a point on each side of his face. And finally his hair was very well kept as well. The undercut portion was very clean cut, while the top portion was a bit messy from sleeping I assume. I couldn’t help but reach my hand around to the back of his head and began to run my fingers through the soft, shaven portion. It felt like puppies fur, I could pet it all day. I don’t remember how long I was idly petting the back of his head, but all I know is that the bed started shaking. I looked down to see his one leg bobbing and kicking, something a dog would do when getting scratched in the right area. His toes were spread wide and I realized that his toes were webbed. _No wonder he can swim so fast_. I stopped rubbing my fingers and his leg stopped as well, falling back down to meet the other. As I returned my gaze to his face, his eyes were wide open and staring back at me.

“Uh…” I drew my hand away in surprise, not expecting him to be staring at me.

“Why did you stop?” he asked.

“Stop what?”

“Petting my head?” His pupils had gone wide, the typical puppy dog stare.

“Because?”

“It felt good. Do it again.” He murmured as he sunk his face into the mattress allowing me access to the back of his head.

“I will not”

“Come on, please?” he pleaded, barely audible.

“No” I retorted.

“Fine. See if I do anything for you next time.”

_He’s gone soft. What the hell!_

I laid back down on my back and stared at the ceiling. I wasn’t tired, I just didn’t know what to do with myself. Levi wasn’t moving either. He was just laying with his face in the mattress, breath steady and arms still around me. I shimmied out of his grasp and climbed over him to get off the mattress.

“….ya going?” He asked as he turned his head to look at me. I stood up and stretched my body; back and shoulders cracking in the process. It felt good to get the kinks outs of my body, for the mattress had made my muscles stiff. I took the opportunity to look out the window. I could tell that the sun was warm today by the way it was shining through the window.

My daze was broken by the sounds of scratching. I looked towards the sound and saw Levi scratching behind his ear with one taloned foot. I had to cover my mouth to try and cover up the sound of my laughter. He stopped and shot his gaze to meet mine, leg still in the air. “What?” he said slowly lowering his leg.

“You are fucking dog!” I snorted between words. I seriously couldn’t help but laugh.

“Why is this so funny!? Can’t a guy scratch himself!?” He rose to his feet and stretched up. I heard every bone in his body crack and crunch.

“It’s just comical. The fact that you’re able to do that is just comical is all.” I slowly stopped laughing and calmed myself down.

“Well….I am pretty flexible. Do I need to show you?” His voice low, almost daring me to say “yes”.

“Uh….no thank you” I said.

“Hmp. I’m going for a walk around the forest if you wanna tag along” he said as he walked past me, exiting through the door. I put on my boots and soon followed _. What else would I do around here?_

After our walk, our day had been pretty much the same as the day before, food, then bath, then sleep. This routine became an everyday thing. Weeks, then a month had past, one could even say our friendship was growing a little….stronger. It was strange, but that feeling in my chest had grown little by little and I was still unable to tell what it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fluff? Levi is a giant puppy.  
> I'm sorry but I tend to kinda rush things a bit :/ I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes!


	5. Kissed

The month spent in this little shack with the creature named Levi had soon turned into two months. In this period of time, I had learned a lot about him and became a little more trusting of Levi. I wouldn’t leave his side, mainly because he invited me with him everywhere he went. He told me that he was thirty years old before his change, he grew up in the same village as I had but on the southern, more poorer, border of the gates, and that he has many animalistic antics due to his transformation, which was no surprise there since I’ve seen some of them first hand. I often talked about my family and my friendship with Armin. I told him that I want to go home and see them again, but according to him it was “too dangerous”.

I was more comfortable sharing a bed with him as well. I found that his body heat was very beneficial during the really chilly nights. With all that added fur, of course. Often times I would wake up to him in strange sleeping positions, like his legs intertwining with mine, tail wrapped around my thighs, me being the little spoon even though I was taller, even his whole entire body sprawled out on top of mine with his head resting on my chest. But today’s sleeping position was a little different. I woke up and looked to my left to see his feet inches away from my face. My eyes trailed down, or up, his body to see him lying on his stomach and his face near my feet as well, only looking away. His one arm was tucked under his body while the other was limply draping over the mattress and onto the floor. I watched his back rise and fall with each breath before I laid my head back down.

Then an idea struck. I took my finger and lightly ran it up and down his foot, tickling the tiny hairs between the leather like pads on his toes and instep. His foot twitched before relaxing it again. So, I repeated the process. Once again his foot twitched and pulled away, curling his toes before relaxing them once again. I held back a chuckle as I repeated the tickling on his foot, this time he kicked his foot but didn’t make contact with me. I had to put a hand over my face in order to stop my chuckling. I heard him grumble something, sounding grumpy, but couldn’t tell what he was saying. I let a few more minutes pass before I did it again. This time he threw one leg over my waist and sat upon me, grabbing one of my feet and started to tickle it. _Shit_! I started laughing uncontrollable as he slid one of his claws lightly up and down the bottom of my foot. I couldn’t move with all of his weight on my waist.

“Ha ha h-Lev-i!” I couldn’t catch my breath I was laughing so hard. “Le-vi! Stop!”

“Shouldn’t have started it, brat!” He moved on to the other foot and I laughed even harder. My stomach hurt but not from him sitting on me.

“I-ha ha ha-ssst-op! Ha-ha! I can’t b-b-breath!” I was laughing so hard tears started to form at the corner of my eyes.

“Hmmm…” His tail slowly laid itself onto my chest and into my face. I was now battling long fur from entering my mouth.

“Levi! Ok! Pfft. I’m sorry!” I said blowing the hairs out of my face. “I’m sorry!” He stopped tickling my feet and slowly tuned his body and legs around to face me.

“But are you really sorry? Do you like torturing someone so harmless like myself while they’re trying to sleep?” I could feel the sarcasm. I had a stupid grin on my face all while he was talking. He slowly laid down on top of me, elbows on each side of my torso, resting his head on his hands. His legs slid back and stretched downward, meeting my feet in the process. “Hey there” was all he said. His voice echoed throughout my body. My chest was feeling that pain again. I’ve noticed it only happens when we have physical contact with each other. It’s a very strange sensation, one that I’ve never felt before I met him.

I must have forgotten that he asked me a question because he slowly crawled up my body until his head was next to my ear.

“Earth to Eren. Is anyone home?” his voice was low and still vibrating through my ear.

“Yeh…he’s home” was all I said. I do not know why, but my arms slowly lifted themselves and wrapped around his thin body. I could feel each vertebrae with my hand. His skin felt soft and smooth and his body was really warm on top of mine. He slowly lifted his head to look at me in the eyes. All I could do was avoid his eye contact, so I opted to look at the ceiling. I felt my face blush like wild.

“Eren, look at me.” I looked the opposite direction and blushed even harder. My face was bright red I could tell. My chest was pounding too. _What was this feeling?_

“Eren~,” he continued “is there something you want to tell me?” His voice was soft; eyes still looking at mine.

Arms still around his torso, I slowly turned my head back to face him. His face was just inches away from mine; eyes half lidded with those large pupils again. _No. Stop. I can’t handle that look_.

“Eren? Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine” was all I said.

“Eren?”

I didn’t want to talk, really. I just want to stay like this for a little bit longer, maybe fall back to sleep. But I replied anyway. “Yeah?”

“Do you…”He paused. “Do you have feelings for me?”

 _What? Feelings? As in like you or even…..that other L word_? “What do you mean?”

“Well, by the way you’re constantly blushing anymore, I would say you’ve developed a slight liking towards me.”

 _Is that what this was? DO I really like him like this? After only a few months? Is that possible?_ “I uh…” I didn’t know what to say. I truly was at a loss of words. His head slowly began lowering itself back to the side of my head. He started to rub his head into mine, nudging mine in the process. I could feel the softness of his hair on my cheeks as he continued to slowly rub his head in a small pattern against mine.

“What are you doing?” was all I could say as he continued his rubbing.

“Since you won’t show me how you feel, I’m showing YOU how I feel.”

“By rubbing?” I have to admit, I was kind of confused. “How exactly is this showing me how you feel?”

He stopped and looked at me in the eyes. “It’s showing you that I’ve taken a liking towards you. Like a cat, I’m showing you not only affection, but that I want to be yours. I only wish for you to feel the same way.”

“Oh _.” OH! I get it now. Is that what the pain in my chest was? Do I really have feelings for him? Like that?_

He was still staring at me when I lifted my head and slowly began to do the same. I felt him chuckle in my hair, his warm breath reaching my scalp. “Am I doing it right?” I said as I continued to rub my head.

“Yeah that’s enough for now, don’t want you straining your neck.” I stopped and laid my head back down. There was a small smile on his face. “If that’s really how you feel…then you’ve just made me the happiest being on this stretch of land.”

I looked at his steel grey eyes. “Yeah...that’s how I feel about you…Levi.” His smile grew a little bit larger at my words. I saw his tail curl upwards and it started swinging from side to side. I could tell that he was happy, just from that alone, and it made my heart melt. In the matter of a few months, I went from scared of this unknown being to liking the unknown being...as more than just a friend. And it wasn’t until now that I had realized it.

Levi’s head slowly closed the distance between the two of us, placing a chaste kiss on my lips before pulling away. I simply starred at him and un-wrapped my arms from around his torso, replacing them around his neck. Slowly, I leaned up to return the favor to his lips, this time, letting the kiss last a little bit longer.

“How long have you liked me?” I asked, breaking away from the kiss.

“Since day one.” He smiled. _For that long?_ “I thought you were the most wonderful looking creature to look at. And I apologize once again for hurting you, for I am really not like that at all, if you couldn’t tell already” he chuckled “but those big, sea green eyes had me hooked as soon as we made eye contact. Your smell reminds me of home. You skin is a beautiful shade of tan. Your body heat reminds how to feel human.” I ran one hand up the back of his head and brought it down to place another kiss on his lips. The kiss was long, only breaking apart for air then back to kissing again. He broke away and started kissing my jaw line. My head fell to the right so my neck would be more exposed. Levi trailed kisses down my neck until he reached my collar bone. I couldn’t help from flinch when I felt teeth lightly nibble on my collar bone.

I turned to face him again. “Ow.” _Whelp, that’s going to leave a nice mark_.

He lifted his head and looked at me. “Sorry, fangs” he replied, lifting his lips into a large smile to show me his set of 8 fangs.

“It’s alright.”

He adjusted his position, bringing me up along with him, both of us in an upright position. He had somehow shifted me into his lap, legs straddling his crossed ones. He took both hands and gently put them on both sides of my face, fur on his slender fingers soft against my cheeks. He just stared into my eyes and I stared back into his beautiful silver irises, staying silent. His right hand travel down my neck to stop over my heart, eyes breaking contact and following his movement. He was…feeling for my heartbeat. His lips curled slightly upward when he found it.

I took my left hand and placed in over his that was resting on my chest. Mimicking his motion, I placed my right hand on his chest, waiting to feel his heartbeat. I could it feel it so I moved my hand slightly. I still couldn’t find it. He drop his left hand from my face and placed it over my hand that was resting on his chest.

“You really have to push to feel it.” And push he did. He pushed my hand so hard it felt like it was going to crush.

“I still don’t feel it” I stated.

He moved my hand slightly up and pushed hard once again. I waited until I finally felt a faint beat.

Bu…bump.

Bu…bump.

Bu…bump.

I couldn’t help but smile. But something was off about his rhythm. It was extremely slow. I counted the beats and each one had about a ten second interval in between. My hands slowly fell from their position and onto my lap. I looked down and he used his hand to lift it back up by my chin.

“I’m so sorry, Levi.”

“What are you sorry for? You’ve made me happy; the happiest I’ve ever been in centuries.”

“But… your heart, your rhythm, it’s…slow.”

“But at least I have one. Think of it this way, without a beat, I’d be dead. The beat my body houses is what has kept me alive for so long.” I didn’t respond. “Hey, look at me.” My eyes following his words. “I am very much alive as you are.”

“I know…it’s just…sad.”

“Don’t feel that way. For my sake. I want you to be happy. The same way you make me happy.”

My arms wrapped themselves around his neck once again, drawing him in for a long hug. I felt his arms return the favor around my waist, nice and tight. I loosened my grip and gently pushed his head back so I could see his face. I planted a kiss on the bridge if his nose, then followed the marking on the side all the way down to the tip of his nose. My lips’ final stop was his mouth. I placed soft kisses until we fell into rhythm once again, occasionally switching our head positions from one side to the other. His one hand traveled up my back and landed on the back of my neck, pushing my head to deepen the kiss. I couldn’t help but moan into the kiss, it felt good. Something wet brushed my bottom lip and I broke the kiss seeing what it was. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth, long and black or maybe even a deep shade of purple. He retracted it back into his mouth with a playful smile. His pupils were large once again. _Dammit, how does he control his eyes like that!?_ I couldn’t help but smile and leaned into to kiss him again. He repeated the motion and I granted him access. His tongue slid into my mouth. It was definitely weird having someone else’s tongue inside, touching yours, exploring each and every crevice.

We broke to get some air, saliva trailing from our mouths, then continued. This time, his tongue was brushing mine, gesturing for me to enter his mouth. So I did. I began to feel each tooth carefully. His fangs were definitely sharp so I made sure to go slow across them. The roof of his mouth had strange ridges along it, too. His mouth was all around really warm and wet. I felt him sliver his tongue around mine a few times before breaking the kiss again. I could still taste him on my tongue and to be honest? I kind of liked his taste.

I saw him running his tongue along the roof of his mouth, occasionally poking through his closed lips. I let out a low giggle and he looked at me. “What are you doing?”

“Savoring the flavor.” Once again, his animalistic characteristics were showing through. He kept doing it and I started to full on laugh.

“You look like a dog who just ate peanut butter!” He stopped.

“Well I did just eat something sweet.” A cocky smile now plastered his face.

My cheek heated up at that. I really do blush a lot don’t I.

“Just curious, but what does the roof of your mouth look like?”

“Take a look.” He opened his mouth and tilted his head back. His roof and gums were the same color of his tongue; deep purple. The ridges formed linear patterns all along the roof. It was strange. My tongue was idly feeling the top of my mouth, comparing the smoothness to the rough I had felt with his. He closed his mouth.

“Cool.”

“Just cool? You were enjoying it far more then you’re letting on right now.” He re-wrapped his arms around my waist and slowly laid flat on his back so I was now laying on his chest. Letting our bodies relax, I felt him shift his lower body. His tail had curled around my waist, as if to keep me in place, arms sliding to the top of my torso.

He leaned his mouth into my ear. “Don’t ever leave me.”

“I won’t. I promise. I’ll help you with your goal.” With that, I placed a kiss on his cheek and laid my head down once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Levi has chow chow tongue" - the literal text i sent my friend.  
> Sorry for such a short fluffy chapter.   
> I'm considering this the calm before the storm, so be prepared. BUM BUM BUM!  
> (I may take longer to update because life is happening which include but are not limited to research papers, final exams, job, etc.)  
> Once again, sorry for any mistakes!


	6. Hurt

I was laying my head upon Levi’s chest, trying my best to find the heartbeat that had me fascinated. Levi’s body shifted under me and I felt him rest a hand on top of my head. “Hear anything interesting?” was all he said, laying his hand over my other ear. His voice was low and drawn out, letting the vibration run down from his throat down to his chest. We had found ourselves in a very comfortable position on the mattress after finally getting up for breakfast, or should I say, lunch. Today was going to be a lazy day and I was totally fine with that. I don’t need another walk through the forest or another hunting trip or us playing old stupid games that Levi had laying around for no reason. Just me and him, lazing the day away, trying to hear his damn heartbeat.

“You’re not going to find it, I telling you.” I felt him lean his head down and kiss the top of my head. His hand started running through my messy hair, lightly running his nails against my scalp. _Oh yeah, this feels good._

“I know” I sighed, “But I just want to hear it for myself.”

“If I can barely hear it, what makes you think you’re going to hear it?”

“…just curious is all.”

Levi’s tail was idly swaying in the air, opposite side from me. My gaze was fixed on his tail, watching the longer hairs flip from side to side. Reaching my arm over his chest, I grabbed his tail and brought it closer to me. I flipped onto my back, lying next to Levi, his hand now around my shoulder. I could feel his eyes on me, but he didn’t say a word. My hand was moving back and forth so that his tail was forcibly being moved. He pulled his tail out of my grasp, but I simply just re-grabbed it, this time with both hands.

“What’s it like having a tail?”

“Hmm…” he pulled his tail out from my grasp once again. “At first it hurt; adding a bunch of vertebrae to an already existing spine. And it didn’t grow this long overnight. It took time to get to this length and thank goodness it’s done growing. In fact, my whole body was sore throughout this whole nightmare.”

My mouth was sealed shut. _What do I say_?

“It’s like my bones were breaking… and everyday I’d wake up with a new fur patch, or one less toe, or sharp, ugly claws. I began to lose weight fast, yet somehow I was granted with a lot of strength.” I glanced at the small ridges on his abdomen. They pushed out against his skin just like his bones did. I placed my one hand along his abdomen and slowly ran it up and down, feeling each bump under his smooth, pale skin.

“In a way, I’ve became feral. Once living a domesticated life, now living in the wild.”

“… I like feral Levi.” _Why did I say that. That’s not what I meant! Stupid!_

“Heh…what do you mean?”

 _Oh no, my cheeks are red again_. _Stop_! “What I mean is…I think you’re unique. And I know you’re tired of being the way you are… I just want you to know that…” I paused, trying to formulate words. “That I like you for you. I like you the way you are and I’ll continue to like you even after you’ve turned… normal.”

“Do you really mean that?” His voice was low in a whisper.

“Of course I do.” I leaned up to kiss the underside of his jawline.

_BURM BURM BURM!_

Our intimate moment was interrupt by the sound of heavy knocking at the door.

_BURM BURM BURM!_

It happened again.

“We never get visitors” I said playfully, sitting up right.

Levi got up from our position and walked towards the door. “Stay put” he said to me over his shoulder. I watched as his hand reached for the knob and slowly opened the door.

“Ahhhhh there he is!” An unfamiliar voice broke through the silence.

“… What do you want?”

“Levi, it’s been a couple months, why haven’t you join us on one of our hunting trips?”

“I’ve been busy, now please leave.” Levi’s voice had a hint of annoyance in it.

“Aw but Levi! I just got here! You’re not even going to invite me in? How rude.” This man’s voice was deep and loud.

“Nile… leave.” Levi was sounding more and more agitated.

“Are you hiding something Levi?” This “Nile” pushed past Levi and slowly walked into the shack. He had the same body structure as Levi, but with more hair on his arms and his face. He had scares on his much taller body as well. “Oh? Is this a little snack you’re hiding, Levi? He looks delicious!” My heart was pounding. _This thing wants to eat me_! He was slowly advancing towards me, then he fell face first to the ground. Levi was on top of him, hand around his neck, other clawing his back. The creature stood up, Levi still clinging to his back. He was quickly thrown off with force by the other creature, back slamming against the wall, landing on the ground.

This _thing_ shot me a glare with his deep, dark, eyes. I was paralyzed on the mattress. I couldn’t move, or should I say, my brain wouldn’t allow it.

Levi, catching his breath, slowly stood up. “Stay… away… from him!” He was snarling and showing teeth.

“My Levi, you have grown weak. Is it because of the human?” He ran towards Levi, grabbing his neck and dragging him up against the wall and into the air. Levi was clawing at this things face, blood dripping onto the floor, before he was thrown across the room and landing in front of the mattress. “Come on Levi! Get up and fight!” he growled.

Levi was slowly got up and turned to look at me. His pupils had gone into a thin vertical line; cat like. Blood was trailing from his nose and over his lips. “Eren…”

I looked over his shoulder and the other creature had swatted towards Levi, which landed on his face, blood spewing out from his cheeks. The noise Levi made was something I’ve never heard from him before. Full of pain.

Their brawl was nothing but claws hitting skin and blood flying everywhere and all I could do was watch. _What do I do? What do I do_!? Levi was suddenly pinned to the ground, with a hand around his neck, constricting his airway. “What’s it gonna be Levi? You gonna show your face again or are you going to grow old with your pet over there.”

“How… about… you… die!?” His hands were desperately clawing at the hand around his throat. He was slowly lifted up, then slammed back down onto the floor. Blood came up through his mouth upon impact.

Coughing, Levi was barely able to speak. “Eren... get… out…. now…”

“Awww it has a name! How sweet!” He slammed down again.

More blood flew out of his mouth. “Eren… get… out!” Levi’s legs were kicking desperately up at the other creature, leaving gashes in the others abdomen.

I finally spoke through, holding back tears. “I won’t leave you Levi.”

“Eren… get out… now… and… never… come back…” his face was slowly turning purple and it looked like he was about to pass out.

“No… Levi! LEVI!” I was screaming at this point. I don’t know what I was thinking but I ran over to the other creature and began to pull on his shoulders. “LET HIM GO YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

He slapped me away and I landed on my back. This allowed enough time for Levi to swat the hand away from his neck. Nile was taken aback and Levi had the advantage now, flipping him over and pinning him to the floor.

“Eren, for the sake of your life, leave! Run and never look back!”

“No Levi! I’m not leaving you!”

“Eren! GO!” Nile was clawing at Levi’s chest, blood streaming down his arms, matting the fur on his hands.

“I don’t know where to go! How do I get home!?” I stood up, lower back hurting, legs shaking.

“North! Just head north! You’ll find it eventually! I promise!” He had Nile by the throat, claws digging into his skin.

“Levi?”

“Go. I’ll catch up.”

“I…”

“I promise” he looked into my eyes, pupils in their normal state.

“…but”

“GO!”

My chest was aching. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to let go what we had formed between us. But my legs took me outside. I begun running and looked back when a loud cry of pain hit my ears. It sounded like Levi. _He promised. He’ll find me, I know he will_. Tears streamed down my face, landing on the ground as I ran, back aching.

The words I wanted to tell him were stuck in my mind and I needed them to come out.

“I love you, Levi.”

X

I don’t know how far I ran, but my legs couldn’t carry me no more. The sun was setting and the darkness will soon fill the sky. I collapsed on my knees and stayed like that until my breath caught up. Tears had stopped rolling a while back, but I could still feel the dried stains on my cheeks. Wiping my sleeve across my face, I caught a whiff of _him_. I subconsciously pulled my sleeve down over my hand and cupped it over my mouth and nose, inhaling deeply to fully smell his scent.

_North. Just head north. I need… to get back… to save him. I need help._

I forced my aching body to get back up and continue to run. The sun was setting fast so it was important for me to get back to my village before it’s too late. I felt my body grow weaker and my head was spinning.

A few more yards of awkward running, I collapsed and blacked out. The only thing I can remember before losing consciousness was the sound of drumming in my ear against the ground. “Le… vi.”

X

_… Er… ren…_

Was I dreaming? I heard my name.

_Eren_

There it was again.

“Eren”

Slowly, my consciousness was coming back. My eyes opened just a sliver.

“Eren, wake up.” The voice was soft.

I closed my eyes only to slightly open them again. “Le… vi?”

“Levi? Who’s Levi?”

“Huh?” My eyes opened all the way. I noticed that I was no longer in the shack that had become my home. The warmth I was feeling was not the creature I’ve grown close too. “Were… am I?”

“Your home, Eren. You’re safe.”

I looked towards the sound of the voices I heard. “Mom? Mikasa? Armin? What… how did I?” I looked down to the blanket that I was wrapped in; it was my blanket. We were all sitting in front of our fireplace, sitting on plush couches.

“Eren, a couple hunters found your unconscious body lying on the ground and immediately brought you back.” My mother was explaining to me, but my mind was still a bit loopy.

“They brought you to the doctor to check on you before bringing you home. Mikasa immediately came and got me.” Armin spoke up.

That’s when my brain clicked. _Doctor. Doctor. Doctor Zoe_. I immediately stood up, almost losing my balance. “Doctor Zoe. I need to see Doctor Zoe!” I walked towards the door when my arm was pulled back.

“Eren, honey, it can wait” My mom had grabbed my arm, pleading for me to stay.

I shot around to meet my mother’s eyes. “I need to go see Doctor Zoe. Please.”

“Can’t it wait? Eren, we haven’t seen you in months! You must rest!”

“No, mom, I can’t. I must talk to her.”

“We took you to her when you first arrived, she said you were fine and that no serious injuries were found, just some scratches.”

“That’s not the point, mom. Just let me go” I pulled my arm out from her grasp and ran out the door, body still aching. I ran towards Dr. Zoe’s shop.

“Eren wait!” I stopped in my tracks, allowing Armin to catch up. “Why do you have to see her?”

“There’s something I need to take care of.”

“And what would that be?”

I didn’t answer. How am I supposed to tell anyone about Levi? People feared his kind and wouldn’t hesitate to burn him at the stake. If anyone was to know about Levi, it was going to be the doctor.

“Armin, I’ll tell you when we get to Doctor Zoe’s. Come on, we’re losing time.”

We arrived to the shop and the bell above the door rang when opened. “Helloooo! How may I help you!?” Dr. Zoe was nose deep in… something and didn’t bother to look up at us.

“Dr. Zoe, I need your help.” Her head shot up to look at me through her thick goggles.

“Ah Eren! Good to see you up and walking again! How are you feeling!? Oh and Armin, always a pleasure!” She got up from behind her desk and walked over to us. “What can I help you with?”

I sighed. “Well… I have a friend who needs help… and he said you’d be able to help him. Well actually he’s your friend too.”

“He is? Eren, I have many friends, what’s his name.”

I swallowed the giant lump that had built up in my throat.

“Levi.”

“… Levi?” She took off her goggles and placed them on her desk. “Levi, huh. That bastards still alive?” She looked into my eyes and she was… smiling?

“Yeah, actually.”

“The same Levi with the monster legs and the tail?”

“Yep, same Levi.” I looked toward Armin who had a confused look on his face.

“Armin, I’ll explain later.” He simply nodded his head.

“Look, Eren. As much as I’d like to help my friend, I can’t exactly leave the village. People constantly need me and my services.”

“Please, Doctor! You need to help him!” I didn’t want to hear what she had to say. _He’s your friend, you should help him_!

“Eren, let me ask you something… he’s obviously been fine out on his own, so why do you want to help him so bad. Wait don’t answer that.” She just started and me, eyeing every inch of my body. “Ah… now that explains everything.”

“Wait… what are you talking about?” I asked, confused.

“Come, I want to show you something.”

She took us to one of her back rooms where files were kept. While shuffling through some folders she began to talk. “I want you to know that I am able to read peoples emotion based on their auras. Your aura when talking about Levi is radiating pink, showing a sign of affection. Is this true?”

Armin looked even more confused than before, but I might as well tell the truth if I want help.

“Yes. I do have feelings for him.” She pulled out a folder and opened it up, revealing many scripts and pages with writing. She was fidgeting.

“Oh Eren this is wonderful! No one has ever truly had feelings for him, even when he was human!” She flipped through some of the pages in the folder until she landed on what looked to be an exact copy of Levi. “Eren, this is the person we’re talking about, correct?” She pulled it out and handed it to me. The picture was of his full body, in clothing fit for the time period he lived in. His face housed the same displeased look, minus the makings around his eyes. It was definitely strange seeing him with normal legs instead of his anthropomorphic ones and minus a tail. He was still the creature that I fell for and he was still very handsome, even if he looked different from this picture.

“Yeah this is him.”

“Wonderful! Now the only way I could help is if you bring him to the village so I can rid him of his curse. You know, I’m sure he’s told you my little secret by now. I should be able to conjure something up by the time you bring him back.”

“But, he’ll get killed immediately if we bring him here.”

“And that’s when night comes into play. We’ll have to sneak him in when everyone is inside.”

I was silent. Armin finally spoke up. “So how exactly are we going to find him?”

“I know where he lives, I just need to borrow a couple horse to cut time in half.”

“Eren, you’re not going alone!” Armin spoke up.

“And I don’t want to put you in danger again.”

“Understood. Just think, you can tell me everything that happened while you were gone.”

I handed the photo back to Doctor Zoe but she simple told me to keep it, as a good luck charm. I put the photo in my pocket, making sure it’s secure.

With a simple thank you and goodbye to the doctor, me and Armin left and headed back to my house. I decided to start telling him about Levi on our slow walk home. One thing about Armin was, not only was he my best friend, but he supported me and my feelings to such a strange being. He didn’t judge me and it made me happy.

We wound up having to wait three days before we got the ok to exit the gates to “hunt”, this time during the day. It was just me and Armin on our little adventure so we packed bags full of supplies including food, water, and weaponry.

We had been riding at full speed throughout the forest, trying to make up for any lost time. I began to recognize some larger trees as we got closer.

“Armin, we’re almost there!” I couldn’t help but feel happy as we closed the distance between us and the shack. A smile formed on my face as we got even closer.

But that smile soon dropped and I brought my horse to a halt, Armin following my lead.

“Eren what’s wrong?” My eyes were wide and tears started to form at the corners. I got off my horse, grabbing the reins, leading it with me. “Eren?”

The trees had turned black. I was in shock. _What… happened_? “No… No… NO!”

“Eren, what’s…” Armin got off his horse and walked next to me. “Eren, is this-“

“Yeah, this is it.” I let go of the reins and walked up to what was left of the shack I shared with Levi. Nothing but black char and rubble was left, embers still burning in the surrounding area. The ground was crunching under me as I made my way to where the door once was. “OH MY-!” I sunk to my knees and tears came flowing down my face once again. I didn’t care that soot would stain my clothing.

Armin walked up next to me and saw what I had saw, gasping and holding back tears. “Eren?”

I couldn’t speak. I watched my tears hit the black ground. “No… NO! EVERYTHING… gone.”

Armin leaned down to hug me tight. “Eren, it’s going to be alright.”

I couldn’t reply. I simply glanced at the charred skeleton that was lying in the middle of the shacks rubble.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't throw rocks at me! :/ I warned you about the calm before the storm!  
> What do you guys think? Poor Levi right?  
> And i only made Nile one of the "bad guys" because I simply didn't know who else to use. (That wasn't planned for the story that is)  
> Thanks for reading!  
> Once again, it's early in the morning and I sometime type before I think so I apologize for any mistakes!


	7. Missed

Armin’s hold was tight and comforting. My tears would not stop; mind running rampant. _Why didn’t I stay? None of this would have happened_. I wiped my tears on my sleeve, making them slightly damp.

“Eren, it’s ok. Everything is going to be ok.” Armin released his hold and rubbed one hand along my back. My breathing was starting to steady itself. _He… he promised. He promised he would find me. And I promised that I would find him_. Apprehensively, I lifted my head to look at the remains in the center of the shack, dropping it instantly.

“Armin.” I stood up, dusting the extra soot off my pants.

“Yeah?”

Walking closer to the rubble, I scanned the area, avoiding my gaze at the skeleton. “Please tell me he’s alive.”

Armin stayed in his place. “Eren… I… I don’t know.”

Something had caught my eye. A small, dull shine laying in the layers of ash next to the once flat mattress, burned down to nothing but a bunch of springs. Climbing over some burnt wood, I grabbed the object and wiped some ash away with my thumb. A figures face returned my stare. The face of the porcelain figure whose partner was broken only a few months before.

I heard Armin’s footsteps crunching through the debris. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him studying the skeletons structure.

“Eren, a few days ago, you told me there were two of these creatures, correct?”

I sighed. “Yeah.”

“Then there’s a fifty-fifty chance that this is not… his remains.” He didn’t sound so sure. I turned my head to face him, still holding the figure in my hands. I really tried to avoid looking at the skeleton.

I stayed silent.

“Let me ask you something, how tall was he?”

“Why does that matter?” I walked over to Armin, standing next to him.

“Just answer the question, Eren.”

“He was shorter than me, by a few inches. But why?”

“I want to test something.” He rustled through his bag until he pulled out a spool of twine. “See?”

“Armin, how’s that going to help?”

“You’ll see.” Armin began to unwind the twine, laying along the skeleton’s curves and bent legs. Once he reached the toes, he cut the twine with his pocket knife. “Eren, can you please pick up the twine?”

With my free hand, I reached for the twine, pinching it with my thumb and fore finger, and pulled it up, avoiding “eye contact” with the skull.

“Now hold it up so the bottom touches the ground.”

“Armin, what’s th-“

“Just do it.”

With a sigh, I slowly lifted my arm until I saw the bottom touch the ground, stepping on it so it wouldn’t curl and bob up.

I looked at Armin who had a smile on his face.

“Now’s not the time to be smiling, Armin!”

“Look at your hand.” My eyes trailed up my arm until I was looking at my hand.

“What abou-“

“It’s towering over your head, Eren. Meaning that this creature is not the one we are looking for!” His smile was larger than before. I lowered my arm and dropped the twine, heading back to my horse and placing the porcelain figure into one of the pouches attached to the saddle.

“Armin, I don’t know if we could go off of just that.”

“Eren, you can’t be serious! The twine was taller, meaning that Levi must have gotten out alive. You should be happy about that!”

I was silent, my hand idly laying on the pocket that housed the picture of Levi. What was hurting me the most was the fact that if he were still alive, where could he have gone. It would take days to search the forest. Armin had followed after me. Grabbing the reins, I walked my horse around the rubble and began walking down the hill towards the lake, Armin close behind. Memories of us swimming and bathing together starting to flood my brain. The images of his wet hair and his toothy grin was stuck, as I looked out upon the lakes surface once I reached the edge. The sun was shining bright, causing the lake to reflect the beautiful rays. My heart was feeling nothing but pain and I just wanted to scream out of frustration.

I don’t know how long I was staring at the lake, but Armin’s voice calling my name broke my gaze.

“Eren, come look at this!” I turned to the sound of Armin’s voice. He was crouching down, looking at something on the ground. I walked over to him, reins still in my hand. “Eren, look!” He repeated as I stood next to him. “It’s a trail off foot prints and blood droplets.” His pointed finger raised as the trail got farther away from us.

I examined the print, remembering Levi’s feet. Three toes in the front, one on the back. Padding and talons, each making an indent in the sand and dirt mixture. My eyes followed the trail and noticed the right foot must have been hurt because of the slight drag in the ground. It was also a lot bloodier print than the left foot print.

“Armin, we have to follow them.” There was a glimmer of hope sparking in my chest.

“You took the words right out of my mouth!” He stood up.

Mounting our horses, we slowly walked next to the trail of footprints that lead along the stretch of the lake. I never realized just how big the lake was until I turned around to look at the blackened part of the forest. _How did you walk all this way? Levi, you better be alive_.

The lake slowly turned into a river, prints still trailing next to the water flow. Armin was in front of me when his horse suddenly stopped, causing my horse to stop as well. “Armin what’s going on?” I asked as he hopped down from his horse. Staying on my horse, I looked at what Armin was examining.

“Eren, the tracks end here.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a large indent from where his body must have laid down. But, they just end. There’s no more after this point.”

“Did he cross the river?”

“Highly unlikely, due to the fact that the flow here is very heavy.” Armin threw a stick onto the rivers surface, disappearing in an instant. The stream was very powerful and not even I would want to try and cross it.

Armin stood up and remounted his horse. “Come on he couldn’t have gotten far.”

“What are you saying, Armin?” We began to walk again, but this time a little bit faster.

“What I’m saying is that he most likely passed out and fell into the river.”

“How could you be so nonchalant!?”

“Because all rivers lead into a larger body of water eventually, so he’ll most likely be in that other body of water when we get there!”

“Armin! He could have drowned for all we know!”

“But we don’t unless we check it out, now shut up and let’s go!” He took off on his horse and I soon followed. Armin was right. I should just calm down and keep my hopes up.

“I’m sorry Armin.”

“For what?”

“For dragging you into this mess.”

His horse still at a steady pace he replied. “Eren, it’s ok! I’m your best friend and this is what friends do. They help each other out in a time of need.”

I let his words sink in. “Thank you, Armin.”

“Anytime Eren!”

Our ride was slowing down and we reached what looked to be another lake. “You know, Armin…” I started to say but my words died down.

“What is it, Eren?”

“I really do miss him… I miss him a lot.”

Armin turned to look at me with a big smile. “I know you do, Eren. That’s why I’m here to help.”

I immediately smiled back at Armin. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome! Now come on we have to search the surrounding are to see if can find him.”

We walked halfway around this new body of water when we both spotted a strange trail leading into the woods. “Armin, what do you think made that track?”

“I’m unsure myself. Maybe he crawled his way out of the water?”

“Should we follow it?”

“Do you think we should?”

“I don’t know that’s why I’m asking you!”

“Well it is your boyfriend we are looking for.”

My face immediately heated up at the “boyfriend” part of that comment. “Fine, let’s go.”

We followed the trail for a couple yards. It looks like someone was dragging a body of some sorts through the forest. The deeper we went, the darker it got.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Armin’s voice was shaky.

“Yeah, me too.” Smoke started to fill my nose. “Armin, do you smell that?”

“Yeah, it smells like a fire place is burning.” We traveled for a little bit longer until a house finally appeared in the distance; smoke rising from the stack on top of the roof. The trail seemed to lead to the front porch until it ended. “Should we ask who ever lives here?”

“I don’t know, I have a bad feeling in my stomach. I really do.” The house was dark and rater large. It was a single story home that looked like it housed many rooms just from how long it was on each side.

Apprehensively, we got off our horses and tied them to the closest tree. We made our way towards the front door of the house. It wasn’t old or decrepit looking. It looked very well kept even with the vines that took over one side of the house.

I reach my hand out and knocked softly a few times, but there was no answer.

“Maybe no one’s home?” Armin asked from behind me.

“There has to be.” I made a fist and pounded against the door. We heard footsteps from inside. The door opened a sliver, but not enough for me to see in.

“What do you want?” The voice from inside didn’t sound threatening. I looked back at Armin then back at the crack in the door. I could only see one eye peeking through.

“Uh… we were wondering if you might’ve seen a friend of ours.”

“Why do you ask?” The voice I determined to be female.

“Well he’s gone missing for a while now and we can’t seem to find him.”

“Hm… what a shame.” This “person” shut the door. I pounded my fist against the door once again, anger filling up inside of me. “What do you want!?” The same person cracked the door again, she sounded slightly agitated.

“Ma’am, we followed a trail from the lake to this house. We just want to know if it’s the person we are looking for!” I felt my temper being shortened, about to burst if I didn’t get a straight answer from this woman. The door shut. The sound of unlatching filled my ears. Then the door opened all the way. The woman walked out and lightly shut the door behind her. She was around my height and had messy, blonde hair and wearing a green dress with rope tied around her waist.

“What’s it to ya?” she spat, crossing her arms. Armin pushed me aside so he could talk. He obviously could tell I was about to burst if I didn’t get my answer.

“Well you see, ma’am, my friend has lost someone very important in his life and he would like to know whether or not the trail belonged to him.” _Thank you, Armin_.

“That trail was made by a creature that no human has ever seen before. So if you’d excuse me, I have patients to take care-“

“So he’s alive?” I cut her off.

“Is who alive?” She looked at me in the eyes.

“Levi.”

“Who?” Her expression looked confused.

I automatically went into the description of how Levi looks. “He’s half human, half some form of creature, black markings around his eyes, black furry hands and legs, taloned feet with a long tail that sprouts longer hairs at the end.”

She looked at me, puzzled. “Impossible” was all she said.

“Possible” was all I replied.

“How when there society tries so hard not to be seen by the human race?”

“Ask him, he kept me alive and eventually fell- wait. Did you say society?”

“I’ve said too much.” She turned around and opened the front door. “He’s in here.”

Armin and I glanced at each other before entering the house. We were met with a calming smell and a ceiling full of different plants and vines. Birds and small animals were loose in the house, forcing us to watch our step. “My name’s Nanaba by the way. You two are probably confused as to why plants and animals are everywhere you walk. Long story short, I rehabilitate and rerelease animals once fully healed. I do make the special exception when it comes to certain people.”

She lead us to door that was off to the side of the room. “Please be quiet upon entering this room. There are beings who are resting and need to stay asleep.” She slowly turned the knob, trying her best to quiet the squeaky hinges. Once open I was met with an array of different animals who were sleeping, most of them with some form of bandage or wrap around them. “He’s right over here.”

I looked over to where she was pointing and sure enough, there he was. My heart sunk when I saw the tightly wound bandage around his head, dried blood seeping through. The only thing I could see was his head, everything else was covered by a sheet and a duvet.

“It’s actually time for me to change his bandages if you want to come look, but please, refrain from touching.” We walked over to where Levi was laying, in an elevated bed next to the window, back slightly propped up by some pillows. Armin wrapped a reassuring arm around my shoulders as we walked behind… Nanaba. “If you have too, feel free to look away.”

“Why?”

“You’ll see.” She started to unravel the bandage from around his forehead, gently handling him. There was a huge slash mark running across his forehead that was slowly healing. Nanaba tossed the old bandages and pulled out new ones. “This powder I’m about to dust help speeds up the healing process. Once I’m done, I’m going to force down some natural anesthetics so he doesn’t wake up until he’s all healed. We don’t want him injuring himself any more than he already is.” She began to apply the powder to all the wounds on his face. His whole left side was puffy and bruised, barely recognizable.

Rewrapping his head in new bandages, she began to speak. “So… you obviously like this guy a lot more than I thought, right? Maybe as a friend or as a lover?” My cheeks turned red. Armin was smiling at me from the corner of my eyes. _Shut up_.

“He was… uh… we were very close before he got attacked.” I began to explain.

“So that’s how he got so badly bruised and banged up.” I nodded. “Alright, I’m moving onto his body, you can look if you’d like to, but I’m warning you… it’s pretty bad.”

“Ok.” I stood next to Nanaba as she slowly removed the duvet and sheet, revealing nothing but red stained bandages wrapped up and down his body. My hands immediately cupping around my mouth. Armin’s eyes didn’t leave Levi’s bloody body.

Nanaba began to slowly unwrap the bloody bandages, revealing smaller cuts, then what looked to be some form of large leaf that was resting on the right side of his ribs. “I’m going to have to change this, but look at your own risk” she said pinching the leaf with her one hand and grabbing a new, clean leaf with the other.

I looked as she slowly lifted the used plant, revealing a huge gash across his ribs, split open enough to see the bloody whites of his ribs below. I gasped and tears started to form at my eyes as I looked upon his barely breathing chest, rising and falling, ribs moving in rhythm. Armin began rubbing circles on my back, his other hand cupping his mouth as well. “Eren, it’s going to be ok! See, he’s alive and breathing and being taken care of!” My breath was shaky.

Nanaba began to wrap new bandages once again. “All better see? These leaves act as a natural coagulant and contains many nutrients that’ll help him heal faster. I’ll have to check on his foot tomorrow. It was only a sprain so he’ll be fine.” She paused, grabbing a tube of sorts and carefully shoved it down his throat. She carefully poured a yellowy liquid down the tube, explaining that it was an all-natural anesthetic made from various fruits and plants.

She recovered him with the sheet and duvet, cleaning up her mess, then forcing us to leave the room. “Now if you’d guys like I have a room that you could stay in overnight for it’s getting pretty dark out. I can give you some food and water as well.” She shut the creaky door and led us to the living room/ kitchen area.

“Thank you Nanaba.” I said, breath still shaking, trying to calm down.

“You’re welcome, uh… I didn’t catch your names.” She motioned for us to sit down on some cushions that were placed in front of the burning fireplace.

“Oh this is Eren, and I’m Armin! A pleasure to meet you! And thank you for letting us stay.”

“Well I normally don’t let humans stay unless it’s a dire circumstance, but I can clearly see that you love one of my patients, so I’ll let you stay. I can see you love is so strong for him, which I have to say if very strange if you ask me. I’d like to hear your story as soon as you’re up for it.”

“Sure… maybe tomorrow.” I said, sitting on one of the cushions.

“There’s two rooms available, but I’d appreciate it if you two shared one. Never know when an emergency will happen.”

“That’s fine, thank you” Armin replied from next to me.

“Now if you don’t mind, I’m releasing some owls tonight so I’d appreciated it if you two would stay in bed while I’m gone.”

“Sure thing”

X

Nighttime soon came. Before we head to bed, we made sure our horses were comfortable by taking off their saddles and supplying them with a bucket of water and feed. We brought in all valuables as well. I idly played with the porcelain figure while lying in bed _. I have to see him_.

Replacing the figure into my bag, I slowly got up from bed and left the room, making sure to be as quiet as possible. Nanaba had already left so I took this as the opportunity to sneak in and visit Levi for a few minutes.

I neared the door, turning the knob slowly, while trying not to make the door squeak too much. Once it was opened enough for me to enter, I squeezed through and walked over to Levi, whose bandaged face was outlined from the moonlight shining in from the window.

“Oh… Levi” I whispered, eyes fighting back tears. “I’ve missed you so much.” I did exactly what Nanaba had told me not to do. That being sneaking in to see Levi and now, I was reaching under the covers to pull his hand into mine. “I shouldn’t have left you. I should have stayed. This shouldn’t have happened to you. I-I’m sorry.” A tear rolled down my cheek, landing on my shirt. I sat down next to the bed, Levi’s hand still in mine. I placed my other hand on top and slowly caressed it. His fur was not matted anymore and was soft to the touch. I could feel each and every tendon and knuckle that was housed underneath the fur. “Wake up soon… please? For me?” I sniffled, wiping the tears away with one sleeve. “Just look at you. You’re beaten and bruised and it’s all my fault.”

I rested my head against the mattress, hand still holding Levi’s limp one. The last few tears had dried to my face, but I made no conscious effort to wipe them away. I don’t remember much, but all I know is that I fell asleep next to the person I fell for, even if my lower back would pay the price in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When will Levi wake up??  
> I must thank you guys for sticking around with this crazy concept I somehow came up with! I really am enjoying all the feedback I'm getting! Thank you all soooooo much for the kind words!  
> Now I need to know, who would like a chapter in Levi's POV??? Leave a comment if you would like that! :3
> 
> (ps. its early and like my other chps they get posted with grammar mistakes! Sorry! *runs in corner*)  
> (edit: fixed the rich text issue)


	8. Renewed

Morning had arrived and I was rudely awaken by a flick to the head.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Sleeping” I said, face buried in the sheeted mattress.

“I told you not to interrupt my patients!” Nanaba’s voice was low, yet threatening.

“But I uh…” I raised my head and looked at the furry hand that was still limply resting in mine. “I wasn’t disrupting anything though.”

“I believe I said not to touch him, now get up and get out of here. He needs his morning medicine.” Nanaba had kicked my buttocks a few time, urging me to get up. Standing up, I stretch most of the bones in my body, lower back sore from resting in a bent position all night.

“Can I at least watch?”

“No. Now go, your friend is waiting for you.”

“Can I ask you something before I go?”

“Sure, what is it?” She turned around from her position in front of Levi, hand holding a pan with several herbs and instruments used for medical practices.

“How long has he been sleeping?”

“…He’s been unconscious since the night I found him.”

“How long ago was that?”

“A few days ago.”

“Oh… i-if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you when you’re finished in here.”

“Sure thing… I’m sorry I never got your name. Got Armin’s but not yours.”

“Sorry, I’m Eren.”

“Eren. Alright, Eren, as soon as I’m finished tending to my patients I’ll be right out.”

I nodded. “Ok, thank you.”

“And Eren?”

“Yeah?”

“I need you to let go of your boyfriend’s hand.”

My cheeks blushed from that word again. I slipped my hand away from his and exited the room, slowly closing the door behind me. My ears perked up to the sound of Armin lowly giggling. I made my way to his location, peering over the couch to see him on the floor, playing with a bunch of rabbits.

“Mornin’ Armin.”

“Oh hey Eren!”

“What’re… you doing?”

“Oh, Nanaba’s letting me feed the rabbits this morning.”

“I can see that.” Rabbits of all shapes and sizes were crowded around Armin, waiting for their share of carrot. One had found itself comfortable on his lap in the process. I have to admit, they’re kind of cute. I positioned myself next to Armin, taking a carrot out of the bag that Nanaba must have given him. A black and white rabbit came hopping over at the sight of the carrot. He or she sniffed the carrot before chewing the tip. “You know, you remind me of a certain someone I know, Mr. Rabbit.”

Armin, now cradling a light tan rabbit, looked over at me. “And who might that be, Eren?” He chuckled. He knew exactly who I was thinking about.

“I don’t know, someone who has soft black fur that only covers half of his body. He doesn’t have big ears like you, but he does have a soft furry tail like yours.” I ran a hand down the rabbit’s back, other hand still holding the carrot.

“Hey, Eren?”

“Yeah?” I looked over to Armin, who was leaning forward a bit.

“Could you get this off the back of my head? Its nails are digging into my scalp.” He turned his head and a squirrel came into view. I temporarily dropped the carrot and reached for the squirrel, placing it on the floor.

“What a crazy house” I said picking the carrot back up and re-holding it for Mr. Levi Rabbit.

I do not know how much time has passed, but between me, Armin, and the many rabbits that had circled around us, the whole bag of carrots was close to empty. Nanaba wasn’t too happy, mainly because we had helped ourselves to what was deemed “patient food”. She had explained that these rabbits are not fit for the wild anymore, thus making them permanent residents in the house. I noticed that “Mr. Levi Rabbit” had a slight limp when walking, so I opted to carry him with me everywhere I went, especially since I wasn’t even allowed to visit the real Levi.

Nanaba had sat on the floor across from us when she was ready to talk. She explained that his body was found a few days ago while fishing in the nearby lake, immediately dropping what she was doing and expelled the extra water from his lungs. He coughed a bit, opening his eyes before shutting them again and losing consciousness. The trail was made from his body being dragged by her alone.

Making sure to carefully treat his wounds, she cleaned him off to rid of any sand, dirt, and blood that was scattered around his body. She also explained how she pretty much lives off the land and gives back by taking care of the creatures that have been placed here, essentially becoming a guardian of sorts.

Once she was finished explaining her story, Armin asked “would you be able to turn him normal again?”

To which she replied “unfortunately no, I can only work with what the land has to offer me. I’ve seen his kind many times, but as far as I know, the land cannot give me a cure. Trust me, he’s not the only one who wants to change back.” She didn’t go into much detail about the other beings like Levi.

“Nanaba?”

“Yes, Eren?”

“Is it alright if I stay with you until he wakes up? Armin could go home if he’d like, since we don’t know when exactly he’ll wake up.”

“No Eren, I’m staying no matter what. Besides, I’m interested to know more about these creatures. In a way, I guess you are right, seeing as I never believed that someone or _something_ like him could exist.”

“Well, if you two would like to stay that’s fine. I could use an extra hand or two around here anyway.”

“Great!” I said “So what would you like us to do?”

“For starters, you can go fishing for me later this week, we need to stock up soon. You can also tend to my veggie garden in the back, every day.”

“That sounds great, Nanaba. Seriously, I can’t thank you enough for this.” I wanted to give her a hug but settled on a handshake instead.

X

Two more days had passed. Levi still has not woken up and Nanaba only allows me to see him under her supervision, which tends to be short visits. I often found myself talking to him even though I knew he would not reply.

“Levi… please wake up… for me?” But like I said, no reply. I could feel Nanaba’s presence, but I reached for his hand anyway, holding it in mine, waiting for him to squeeze back.

I looked at his face. His wounds were healing at a nice rate. Nanaba had stitched the open wound on his ribs last night so that still has time to heal completely.

“Levi… I have something to tell you… but for me to do that… I need you to be awake.”

The sound of knocking had caught my attention. I turned around and Nanaba had left to see who it was. Before leaving the room, I placed a soft kiss on his non-bandaged cheek, letting his hand slide from mine. I wiped away the hair that was in his face to look at his closed eyes. He looked at peace and it warmed my heart.

Leaving the room, I quickly glanced back towards Levi’s slowly breathing form before shutting the door as softly as I can.

“Eren, I’d like you to meet some good friends of mine.” Nanaba’s voice caught my attention and I turned around to see two more… people, like Levi, standing next to her. One had slightly orange hair while the other had more of a silvery texture. “Eren, Armin, these are good friends of mine. Meet Petra and her husband Auruo.”

“Nice to meet you!” Armin spoke first, this time holding a chocolate brown rabbit in his arms.

“Yeah a pleasure to meet you” I added in, not wanting to be rude, but also looking away from her semi-naked form.

“Nice to meet you too!” The smaller of the two, Petra, replied first. Auruo just waved. She looked very similar to the way Levi did only… something was off. Not only was both of their fur color the same as their hair, but she had a huge stomach. I noticed her wrapping her arms around the bottom of it, almost hugging it, the other hand intertwined with Auruo’s fuzzy one.

Nanaba walked them into the living area for them to sit on the plush couches he had. I heard a clicking noise and looked down to see this Auruo guy had hooves instead of talons.

“So what brings you two here?” Nanaba asked, bringing over some herbal tea for the two to drink.

“Well, Petra started contracting yesterday so it’s about time for the baby to arrive.” Auruo had grabbed for some tea and sipped on it.

 _Baby? Oh… duh… she’s pregnant_. Armin was fascinated and had sat on the floor, listening to their conversation.

“Petra, whenever you’re ready, let me know ok? I have an extra room you two can stay in.”

“Thank you Nana-tsss! Ah!” Petra had sharply inhaled. She must be in so much pain if it’s like a normal human’s birth.

“It’s ok sweetie. She’ll be here shortly, ok? You just have to hold on.” Auruo placed a reassuring hand on Petra’s large stomach.

“Ha… I know. It’s just-ah. It’s just that I’ve been contracting for a while now-ow and it hurts!”

“I warned you about the contractions, honey. They are the worst part for your species. Once you start pushing, everything will go smoothly, ok?”

Petra nodded.

“Now are you ready to get yourself situated?” Petra nodded again. “Alright, I just need you to drink this ok? You’re tea has natural pain killers in it to help dull the pain.” Petra grabbed her cup of tea and slowly stood back up with the help from Auruo and Nanaba. Armin and I just sat on the floor, watching the two carry Petra to one of the extra rooms.

“Should we ask if we could help in anyway?” Armin asked.

“I wouldn’t, we don’t know these people, so it’s not really our place.”

The door to the room shut.

We sat in silence for quite some time before Nanaba peeked her head out from the door and had asked for either Armin or I to grab extra towels from the closet. Armin was the first to jump up and run for the towels, handing them to Nanaba. With a simple “Thank you”, Nanaba closed the door and slid back into the room. Petra’s moans of pain had gradually gotten louder and louder, to the point where she was screaming. All we could do was sit and wait for it to be over.

Out of the corner of my eye, Armin had pulled out a blank notepad from satchel and began to write something down.

“What are you doing” I asked looking over his shoulder.

“I’m jotting a few notes down about these creatures, though I would like to know more.” He began to run his hand along the paper, forming rough shapes until it came out to look sort of like the pregnant creature, Petra. He did the same on another piece and it formed the structure of a male creature.

“AHHHHH!” A drawn out scream had caught our attention followed by the wails of a much higher pitched voice. I could hear muffled congratulating from Nanaba from behind the door, but not enough to make out what exactly she said. The baby’s wails and cries had become more ear piercing.

“Tsss! My ears!” I placed my hands over my ears to cup them. Armin was doing the same thing.

The crying had slowly come to a stop and the door to the room had opened, Nanaba appearing whilst wiping away extra blood from her arms. _Gross_.

“It’s a girl!” Nanaba smiled from her position. “You’ll get to see them soon, but for now the two of them would like some alone time with the baby.”

“Understood! But if you don’t mind me asking, how does their pregnancy work?” Armin asked.

“Ah, you see, her pregnancy works just like a normal human beings would, only with some clear differences. Since their kind naturally ages slower than a normal human would, the baby’s time in the womb is longer by an extra four months. Being sixteen months pregnant does a lot to the body as well, so she’s going to have to rest and relax for a couple weeks.”

“Fascinating.” Armin was jotting down notes in his book again.

I asked the next question. “So if she was giving birth naturally, how come Levi changed midway through his human life?”

“He hasn’t told you yet?”

“Well, no… he hasn’t.”

“Well… let’s just say it’s up to him to tell you himself, but I can let you know one thing, there is such thing as black magic that can mess with a person’s genetic code. Needless to say most of this magic has been lost in time and with the witches who created it.”

I did not know that. I mean I knew of black magic, but nothing to this extent.

My concentration was broken by the sound of crying once again. Nanaba had discarded of the old dirty towels and grabbed new ones. “Sounds like someone is cranky” she smiled then froze in her tracks, staring past my shoulder, smile falling right from her face.

“What are-“ I turned my head around, looking at the open door to the patient room, with Levi standing in the doorframe, hands covering hears. “Levi!” I gasped and immediately stood up, Armin doing the same.

Nanaba had placed the towels down and slowly approached Levi. “Guys, stay back, ok?”

All I could do was stare. He looked scared, frightened, confused even. His body was slight trembling and his pupils where small, the whites of his eyes showing more than usual.

“Levi, honey… are you-“

“How do you know my name?” He asked, not removing his hands from his ears.

“Levi, put your arms down, the baby stopped crying, ok?”

He slowly dropped his arms, settling to clasp them together in front of his chest, still shaking. “Who are you? What happened to me?” He asked.

“My name’s Nanaba, and from what your friend told me you-“

“Friend? Hanji?” He slowly advanced toward Nanaba, hobbling due to his bad foot.

“Who? No, your friend, Eren.” She pointed over to my direction, his gaze locking with mine. I couldn’t help but hold my hands over my mouth, my heart skipping a beat or two. His head slowly turned back to look at Nanaba.

“I-I don’t know anyone named Eren.” My blood had ran cold. _What do you mean!? You don’t remember me; us!_? Tears formed at the corner of my eyes, steadily flowing down my cheeks and onto my hands. “Where am I?” He continued. “Where’s Hanji, where’s my mother?”

 _His mother? He’s never said anything about his mother before. What’s going on_?

“Levi, your mother is not here, ok?” Nanaba had reached a hand out to run his shoulder. “But trust me, you’re safe here.” He swatted her hand away.

“No… I’m not. Where is my mother!? Where did she go? Why did she leave me!? WHY DO I LOOK LIKE THIS!?” Levi’s voice suddenly got loud, his hand fisted at his side. I could see small tears trailing down his face. He was… crying.

“Shhhh, calm down sweetie, you’re alright, see?” Her voice was soft and calming.

“No I’m not alright! Mother has left me. She abandoned me!” His breathing became unstable, words stuttering between each breath.

“We’ll find your mother ok? But for now I need you to calm down and relax. Breath in nice and slowly, then breath out.”

“Miss, where is she. Where’d she go? Why did she leave me here?” Levi slowly sunk down onto his knees, covering his face completely with his hands. “Why do I look like this?”

Nanaba kneeled down next to him, speaking in soothing tone. “I do not have the answer to those questions. But I do have several questions for you.”

“Ok.” He looked up from behind his hands.

“Are you sure you don’t know Eren?”

“Positive, unless he’s new here as well.” He looked over at me, arms now down at my sides, Armin’s hand reassuring on my shoulder. His eyes were not the normal shining silver that I loved. They were duller and frightened looking.

“Ok, then let me ask you this next question.” He nodded. “How old are you, Levi?”

His head snapped back to look at Nanaba.

“Seven.” Shock spread across Nanaba’s face, quickly glancing at me, then back Levi. I couldn’t help but let my last few remaining tears fall, as I wiped them away once again with my sleeve.

“One more question, ok? Are you hungry?”

Levi nodded and watched as Nanaba stood up and headed towards the kitchen. Levi opted to sit in a crossed-leg position, grabbing his tail and played with it. Not too long after, Nanaba reappeared with a fish in hand.

“Do you like fish, Levi?” He nodded in approval. She handed him the fish and he put it in his mouth, swallowing it whole, not bothering to chew once.

“How do you feel, sweetie?”

He started swaying back and forth. “I feel… kinda tired. But it’s not nap time-” He fell backwards and instantly shut his eyes.

“Levi?” Nanaba asked. She gently pushed on his arms a few times before standing up. “Good, he’s asleep.”

“What did you give him exactly?” I asked as I slowly walked over to his now sleeping body.

“Oh just some natural sleep aids with a dash of good tasting fish.” She grabbed his upper torso, making sure not to touch the bandages. “Could you grab his feet for me Eren? We need to get him back to bed fast.” I reached for his feet and we began to carry his sleeping body back to his bed.

Reaching onto a shelf, she grabbed a jar of some form of powder. “What’s that?” I asked as she opened the jar and lightly spread some of the purple powder along his forehead with a fluffy brush.

“This is what I like to called memory powder. It helps with forgetfulness really, but just enough of this should be enough to help him get his memories back. Only time will tell.” She recovered the jar and placed back on the shelf. “It’s going to be hard keeping him asleep with the new baby around, so we’re going to have to be extra quiet.”

“Nanaba, what’s going on? Why was he like that?”

“As suspected, he was disrupted from his mental healing process causing him to be stuck where his memory last left off. He need to rebuild the memories over time. I cannot say how long it’ll take, but these memories should all be back.”

“Oh.” I looked down at his once again peaceful face. “So he was obviously remembering when he was seven years old, it seems for far away. That and what happened with his mother. That’s what I really want to know” But I knew that I had no answer to those questions. Only Levi could tell me and he was not awake to do so.

We exited the room and slowly closed the door behind us. Armin stood up from the couch and walked over to Nanaba, handing the towels over to her.

“So who would like to go see the baby?”

We entered the room behind Nanaba and saw Petra breastfeeding the new arrival. Its body was naked, with the only hair on its body being the hair on its head. It looked like a normal human baby, save for the three clawless toes. It was kind of strange to think of these creature without their fur to cover them. They look funny, I a nice way; not the making fun of kind of way.

“Does she have a name yet?” Armin asked as he put his notebook away out of respect.

“Oh, yes, she does. Everyone, meet our little princess, Jade. We’re hoping her eyes will match her name, but we won’t know for sure until she opens her eyes.” Petra smiled and Auruo leaned over to kiss the on the cheek.

“She’s cute” I said, examining the new born a little more. “The hair color matches mom perfectly.”

Petra smiled at my comment. “Thank you, Eren.” Her eyelids were opened halfway. She looked tired.

“You’re welcome.”

“I picked the named” Auruo added in, most likely to get some praise.

“It’s a nice name, Auruo” Nanaba answered, giggling slightly.

We stayed in the tiny bedroom for quite some time before it was time for Nanaba to feed the critters that ran around the house. Petra also wanted some rest and I really couldn’t blame her. I’ve heard about women being very worn out from this experience alone. Thank goodness I’ll never have to experience anything like it.

Leaving the room, my eyes instantly spotted Mr. Levi Rabbit limply hopping around and picked him up, cradling him in my arms.

“You sure have taken a liking to that rabbit, huh Eren.” Armin stated as he carried a bucket of horse fee towards the front door.

“Yeah, I have.” I hand fed the rabbit its food while sitting on the couch, thinking about the adventure I had in this one day alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, the must rquested Levi POV chp will be posted NEXT chp. I apologize!
> 
> So what do you think of baby Jade? 
> 
> (Sorry for grammar mistakes! This chapter is shorter too. And be aware, I do not know when the next chapter will be up for the real world has taken over slightly D: )


	9. Remembered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi's POV. Rating changed to explicit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys, I apologize for my lack of an update, but I've been really busy with work lately and couldn't find the time to work on this chapter.  
> Just want to say thank you for sticking around for so long and hopefully you won't hate me for this chapter. (Thing's get PRETTY weird)  
> Remember, if you have any questions please feel free to ask and I'll try my best to answer! (I'm more active on my tumblr so I'll be able to answer faster there but please feel free to comment below as well)  
> Anyway, please enjoy this LONG chapter!

_“Momma! Look what I found!”_

_A small boy, maybe three or four years of age, ran across a field, hands cupped together. His mother, whose face was nothing but static and a grey blur, stood up from her bent over position to hang a sheet on the laundry line._

_“What is it honey?” She said, grabbing a new piece of laundry to hang up. The boy slowed his pace and walked up to his mother, opening his hands to reveal a small insect._

_“It’s a bug! Look!” The insect flew up and out of the boy’s hands, buzzing away into the warm, summer sky. “It flew away, momma.”_

_His mother petted the boys raven black hair, stating to “go catch another one, there are plenty out there for you to catch!” He looked up and smiled at his mother and ran off to catch another one._

_And I followed._

_With each step, my shoes crunched in the dead, dry grass, leaving imprints of my tracks._

_Wait, shoes?_

_I looked down to see that I was, in fact, wearing shoes; clothing even. I couldn’t help but smile to myself as I lift my hands to examine them. Pale flesh met my eyes as I turned them over and over again. Hands then traveled to my ears, waiting to feel the strands of fur that I’ve grown accustomed to, but was relieved to feel nothing but skin._

_My gazed turned up towards the small boy who was inspecting the dry grass for another insect to play with. Grasping one in his hand, he instantly shot up and began to run back to his mother, but stopping in his tracks when he saw his own father physically abuse his mother. With one final slap to his mother’s blurry face, she had collapsed and he stopped shouting. Tears formed at the boys eyes, letting his hands fall to his sides, bug flying away._

_“Son, I did not mean for you to see that, but please, do not end up like your useless mother.” And with that he walked away, never to return again._

_I walked over to the woman on the ground; boy running and hugging her instantly._

_“Momma? Why did daddy do that?” Tears were streaming down his face. She hugged the boy back, rubbing his shaking shoulders._

_“Everything is ok sweetie. I’m sure… he had his reasons.” She squeezed the boy and slowly stood up, taking his much smaller hand into her own._

_I reached out to touch his mother; my mother, but she faded into mist and the world around me soon turned black._

_X_

_The next thing I know is that the small boy, now age seven, was holding hands with his mom, walking through a busier part of town. This memory was slowly coming back to me as I followed them to their location._

_“Mom where are we going?” the boy stated as his hand was being tugged._

_But she didn’t reply. They walked up an older looking, two story house, with beaten windows. It wasn’t until they climbed the wooden steps to the house that his mother began to speak._

_“Levi, honey, I want you stay here, okay? I have to run a few errands so I might be a while. If I’m not back by sun down, knock on the door and the people here will take care of you.” She kissed his forehead and rubbed his hair. “Remember, I will always love you.” And with that, she was down the steps and gone._

_I attempted to follow her, but some form of invisible barrier had placed itself in front of me, making it difficult and painful to exit._

_So here I was, forced to sit next to my younger self, waiting for the outcome that I already knew to come._

_I attempted to talk to my younger self, but he was nothing but a figment of my memories who was unable to reply._

_So I just sat there, waiting, watching the younger boy slowly curl tighter as the day went on due to the oncoming coldness. It was always cold at night, even on the hottest of days. The boy slowly stood up and recited what his mother told him to do, to knock and wait for an answer._

_He waited._

_And waited._

_Until an older man with a moustache opened the door, candle in hand. “Oh, what brings you here tonight?” The old man said as he examined the shivering boy._

_“My mom said to knock once nighttime came. So I did.” His arms were crossed, rubbing the sting caused from the night air that hit his skin._

_The older man’s facial expression dropped at the boy’s words. “Well why don’t you come in and I heat you up some soup. You must be hungry.”_

_“Very.”_

_At that time, I was unable to read the sign that hung outside. Living on the poor side of town, I was never given a tutor on how to read and even write. That was until I was left on the steps of “Pixis’ Orphanage”._

_The memory played out just like I remembered. I was fed some soup for the night, Mr. Pixis introduced me to Mrs. Pixis; Caroline was her name, as she was cleaning my finished soup bowl. I was shy at first but slowly warmed up over time. He lead me to a room stating “there’s an open bed in hear you can use. Try your best to head right to sleep, ok? Wouldn’t want to wake anyone else up.”_

_He opened the door for the boy and closed it as soon as he walked through the frame, me not too far behind. There was indeed a lot children asleep in this one room. I counted six beds with five being occupied. The open bed was placed right next to the window, which had the bright moon shining through. He climbed onto the rickety bed and threw the duvet over top of him. I remember not being able to sleep that night for my mind was running rampant. Silently, he looked out the window and began to wonder where his mother could have gone. Tears rolled down his cheeks and I walked over and attempted to wipe them away, but my hand simply slipped through his face, leaving a trail of mist when I pulled my hand back._

_The room began to spin, mixing all of the colors together until it went dark once again, leaving me to wait for the next memory to arrive._

_To this day I often wonder why my mother left me. I settled on the conclusion that dad was the bread maker and after he left mom, she eventually ran out of money to take care of both herself and I._

_X_

_The memory picked up when I was an eight year old boy. Throughout the year, my younger self had witnessed many adoptions, mainly from the richer, northern side of the town. At one point there was only nine of us left from the fifteen that were originally here when I first arrived. Some older kids around the age of sixteen even got adopted._

_A lot of families looked past me, deeming me too weird or scary looking, unhealthy even. These rich families wanted a good looking kid for cheap, thus why they traveled down here to adopt. Well, I couldn’t help that I looked like utter shit. I had dark circles under my eyes from crying myself to sleep every single night for a whole year. The other kids thought I was strange too, so I really had no friends. Not that it really bothered me to begin with. I would also show signs of rage and burst out yelling, asking where my mother went and “where did she go”. Answers that poor Mr. and Mrs. Pixis did not have._

_It wasn’t until a strange and upbeat eight year old joined the orphanage, that I considered myself to have a friend._

_I sat down watching the memory play through. Right on cue, there was a knock, followed by an answer; the rest of the kids staying in the living room, not wanting to intrude. A little girl with brown messy hair walked through the front door with a strange expression on her face. She had glasses that were broken in the middle, fixed with tape that rested on the bridge of her nose. Mr. Pixis lead her to the living room to have her introduce herself. “Hello” she said scanning the room and all of its occupants. “My name is Hanji.”_

_A few kids said hi back, but watching my younger self, I noticed that I never did._

_The room began to fizz in and out until I was met with another familiar memory._

_We were outside, playing at the time. Well, the other kids were at least. I was simply sitting on the steps, looking down at my feet from in between folded arms across my knees. I sat next to myself, stretching my legs down along the steps, glancing at my shoes and tapping the toes together. I couldn’t help but smile once again._

_Hanji came over to talk to me, or I should say, the younger me. “What are you doing all by yourself?” She had asked with a confused tone in her voice._

_But he didn’t answer, just looking down at his feet, ignoring the question._

_“You know, you have not yet once introduced yourself since I arrived two months ago. What’s your deal?”_

_No movement from my point of view._

_“Can I at least have your name and I’ll leave you alone?” She pressed._

_We both picked up our heads to look the young Hanji in the eyes._

_“Well?”_

_“Levi.” He said instantly dropping his head back down._

_“Levi… nice to meet you.” Hanji had sat were I am currently sitting, well more like she was sitting in me, seeing as they were ghosts in my own mind. I stood up to stop the tingling that I was feeling. “You should be more sociable, you know? Maybe you wouldn’t be in such a sour mood all the time? How long have you been here anyway? Why are you here? Wanna know why I’m here?” This girl kept going and going, explaining the story that I have heard many centuries ago._

_“Please, leave me alone.” He broke her ongoing rant about nonsense, not bothering picking up his head to tell her face to face._

_“But I was getting to the good part! Come on, Levi!”_

_“No.”_

_“Please?”_

_“No!” He raised his head that time, looking at her from his tired, heavy eyes._

_“Ok, well then I guess you don’t want me to fix those dark circles of yours.”_

_I looked at Hanji who had a giant grin on her face, looking over at the eight year old me._

_“What are you talking about?” He said._

_“Watch!” She held up a hand in front of his face, her own crunching in concentration. Some strange glow came from her palm and swirled to his eyes, instantly revitalizing the bags and the tiredness. His hand went up to touch them and the puffiness was gone._

_“What-how did you do that?”_

_“Well you see, I’m here because my parents are afraid of me. They said I’m a danger to society.”_

_“Okay? And”_

_“I’m well… I have magical powers. I don’t know how, but… I do.”_

_“You’re lying.” His interest was semi-peeked._

_“No! I’m telling the truth! Most people wouldn’t understand me if I showed them, but something told me that I could trust you. You have to keep this a secret, okay!?”_

_“I uh… sure. But you should show me something else some other time.”_

_“Oh anytime, friend!” Hanji held out her hand._

_Friend? I remember feeling strange when she first said that. She was the first person to ever call me a friend and it… made my chest feel weird. He reached for her hand and shook it. This was the beginning of a good friendship that would hopefully last throughout time._

_X_

_Throughout my stay at the orphanage, the Pixis’ had taught me how to read and write. It was very difficult at the start, but I soon got the hang of it. I was able to read some old children’s books at first, leading up to me being able to read a complete book from start to finish. For once, I actually felt proud of myself. I got over my self-loathing and focused on those two tasks at hand. Hanji helped me out as well and I was grateful that she was here to help._

_But one morning had changed my whole demeanor. I was looking at my sixteen year old self talking to a news reporter who came to the orphanage to inform that the body of my mother had been found. The reporter’s face was a grey blur as well, not exactly remembering what he looked like._

_Anger filled my teenage body, fists clenching at my sides as the reporter went on stating that she was stabbed almost thirty-seven times, twenty times in the chest alone. The suspected man involved was… my own father._

_Thank goodness Hanji was there to calm me down for I would have just ran out the door and searched for that son of a bitch myself. The door closed and my younger self punched the closest wall, knuckles starting to bleed. She placed a hand on his, rubbing slightly and instantly healed the wound._

_“That sick bastard” I remember saying through my gritted teeth. “I will find him and rip out his throat!”_

_Hanji helped calm him down by rubbing her hands along his back. “Levi, relax okay? I know you’re upset, but please do not hurt yourself”. He simply looked at her then dropped his head. She giggled and ran her hand up to the back of his head. “Soft like puppies fur” was all she said rubbing her hands along the short hairs._

_At the time, I had recently decided to cut and donate my past-shoulder length ponytail to charity. The orphanage got compensated for the donations, all from various kids who were staying here. Girls cut their hair as well, but not to the point where their heads were shaved like mine. A few younger boys wanted the look I had and shaved the back portion of their head as well. One of the younger kids look absolutely ridiculous with the cut, his dirty blonde shaven hair didn’t suit his chubby face what so ever, but he insisted that he looked “as cool as Levi.” I have to admit, that was a nice compliment._

_Anyway, thank goodness for Hanji. She really was the shoulder I could lean on, simply because I had no one else, not counting the Pixis’._

_X_

_At the age of seventeen, Hanji was taken to the northern section of town by a rich family who wanted a special child. She told them about her powers and showed that she was able to heal and take care of people. The family stated that they would her through medical classes so she could become a doctor._

_The papers were all filled out and she was ready to leave. She gave my seventeen year old, really short frame a giant hug and whispered in my ear. She said “please don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone. Remember, I will always love you, Levi. You are truly my best friend.”_

_I watched myself smile. I could feel the heartbreak all over again. I miss Hanji, still to this day._

_After everyone said their goodbyes, old man Pixis called me aside into a private room._

_“Levi, I need to talk to you about something.”_

_“What is it?” He replied, a bit confused._

_“Well, you are seventeen now, and in four months, you will be eighteen.”_

_“Okay, and?”_

_“Well, we… uh… hm.” Pixis was at a loss of words, creases forming as he shut his old eyes._

_“What is it?”_

_“Well… we can no longer take care of you here. You are deemed too old to be in an orphanage and we can no longer have you live here, as much as we’d like you to stay. We could get shutdown if caught and that’s a risk we just cannot take.”_

_“So you’re kicking me out.” The statement was straight forward, face showing no emotion._

_“You have four months to get things figured out, Levi. And I apologize for not finding you a forever home.”_

_With a sigh, my younger self replied with “it’s not your fault, old man.”_

_Mr. Pixis smiled, his moustache curling upward. He came in for a hug and I had hugged him back._

_“I remember the first day you arrived. You were distraught, screaming for your mother in your sleep, almost every night. It disheartened both me and Caroline seeing you suffer like that. We raised you as if you were our own, and we love you. We’ll continue to love you even when you’re gone.” A tear rolled down his cheek, not breaking the hug._

_“Don’t worry. You guys will always be in my heart, forever.” Yet somehow, over centuries of torture and loneliness, I have managed to forget about them completely._

_The hug broke and the room started to fizzle again, bringing me to the day I had left the orphanage for good. Caroline was dabbing her tears with a piece of cloth as they both said their goodbyes, other children waving from their positions behind them. I had hugged them each before heading out. Mr. Pixis had handed me money before exiting the house, telling me to use it wisely._

_The first thing I spent it on was a buggy ride to the north. It was about time to visit a friend of mine._

_The buggy ride was long and bumpy just like I remembered. The eighteen year old hopped down and paid the fee, walking with nothing but himself and the clothes on his back._

_He was unfamiliar with this part of town, left wandering around until he got some lead as to where Hanji could be._

_Following myself was kind of strange, especially since you could talk to yourself or anyone blurred face around you._

_I was lead to a house that I was familiar with. My younger self knocked on the door and waited for an answer. The door opened to a woman, dressed in a nice robe and a face full of makeup. “Can I help you?” she said as she stood in the door frame._

_“Yes, hi, my name’s Levi and I was wondering if Hanji was around?”_

_“Hanji? You mean Zoe?” The woman’s face housed a displeased look._

_“Zoe?” He was confused at the name change._

_“Yes, Zoe. We had her name changed on her certificate from that awful name to a more socially acceptable one.”_

_“I see… is she around? I’d like to talk to her.”_

_“Hmp.” With a sigh the woman turned around and screamed “Zoe! There’s someone here to see you!”_

_Footsteps came from inside the house. Hanji had appeared confused at first, but soon realizing who was at the door. She had sprung forward and hugged my eighteen year old frame tightly._

_“Levi!” She parted from the hug and examined his face. “What’re you- how did you-Levi! What are you doing here?” I had noticed that her adoptive mother had retreated back into the house._

_“Well, long story short, it was time to leave the nest. Only issue is… I have nowhere to go now.” He scratched the back of his head, sheepishly._

_“I could always ask mom if you could stay with us. How would that sound?”_

_“That would sound great!” He continued to scratch the back of his head. “So… Zoe is what they’re calling you now?”_

_“Yeah… but you can still call me Hanji if you’d like.”_

_“I like Hanji better than Zoe to be honest.”_

_Hanji had asked her mother if I could stay, to which her mother replied “only for tonight. I want him out of my house by morning.” She wasn’t a very pleasant woman. At all._

_Throughout the day, Hanji had showed me around town, introducing me to some local business owners and even her medical professor, or should I say, her adoptive father. He was a lot nicer than her mother and I could tell he held Hanji close to his heart. Maybe it was because they had similar powers or maybe it was because he couldn’t have children of his own, but I could see the love he held for her. He taught her the many ways to use her powers for good, seeing as she was born with a good soul. Her father refrained from using the word “witch” for he did not want his daughter to be associated with witches who hid in plain sight, causing mischief and mayhem._

_Her father had treated us to some food at a local bar before we headed home for the night. Hanji walked into her room to change into night attire, then allowing me access to her room. I sat on her bed and watched myself create conversation with Hanji._

_“So, how do you like it here?”_

_“It’s ok, I guess. I mean I like it here and there is a lot to do in the northern section of town, but I feel like something is missing. I still think about my original parents and what they are up to. I often wonder how my life would be if I was still with them.”_

_“But are you happy?”_

_“… I guess. I missed you a lot the couple months I left. You were the first person to not judge me based on my abilities.” He smiled, rubbing the back of his head. “Anyway, I want to show you something.” She led me to a different room were nothing but a white sheet was hanging up. “Stand right over there” she said, pointing over towards the sheeted wall. He complied, standing with his hands in his pockets._

_“Ok and now what?”_

_“Smile!”_

_“Smi-! What the heck was that!?” He was talking about the bright light that flashed as Hanji uncovered her head from the dark cover attached to a strange box. She reached for a piece of paper that slid through the front and flicked her finger over it, causing something to appear on the paper._

_“Come look” she said as she waved the paper in the air. He took the paper and examined it._

_“It’s me… but how did you-?”_

_“My dad keeps track of each patient by the use of this box. It takes photos that will last forever.”_

_“Photos huh? Strange.” He flipped the paper over and over, examining both sides; one side blank. He handed it back to her and said “you can keep it, as a memento to our friendship.”_

_“Will do, and Levi?”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“Make sure to visit often ok? You know where I work now.” She smiled and hugged him, room fizzling and swirling into darkness._

_X_

_The underground. Just as nasty as I remembered it. Yet, this is where I, he, had lived for the past four years. You’re probably wondering how a twenty-two year old found himself in the underground. It all started when I began my search for my father. He was nowhere to be found, searching all across the northern section of town. The underground was my last option. I had absolutely no luck finding him in my condition._

_What condition you may ask?_

_Just the selling of my own body for money._

_The money Pixis gave me only lasted a year, since I mainly scavenged for food. I haven’t visited Hanji since my arrival to the north and I’m afraid of what she’ll say if she saw me now. The only other means of getting money for food was through illegal prostitution, which could have me in jail if caught. Thus making the underground the perfect place. Most of my customers were male but I did have a few females who took me up on the offer. My body constantly ached and I had lost a lot of weight, waist becoming skinnier and skinner, causing my pants to slip often._

_This was my lifestyle throughout my twenties. Am I proud of it? Not at all. Would I change my past if given the chance? In a heartbeat._

_I watched as my younger self finished with his last customer for the night, situating himself and exiting the underground to get a hearty meal for the first time in forever. I followed close behind as he entered the pub and sat at the bar. His last customer had wanted the full package, leaving his pockets full of money ready to be spent. He ordered a beer while his food was being prepped. The conversation from the men next to me was coming back to mind now._

_“Did you hear about __? He hasn’t returned home since last week!” My ears immediately perked up and eavesdropped onto their conversation._

_“He was a dumbass anyway”_

_“Yeah, but __ said he saw the devil himself and is lucky he got away alive!”_

_“You seriously believe that crock of shit?”_

_“I don’t know what to believe, whether it’d be the devil or some other creature, there is no way I’m huntin’ no more for this damn town.”_

_A third man had joined into their conversation. “Are ye’ talkin’ bout them creatures of the night? They be ruthless sons of bitches, killing anyone with just a single glare. Heav’n knows ‘ow many are out there, some say they be the creation by some dirty skank roamin’ the town as we speak.” The man guzzled his beer and slammed it on the table. “Wouldn’t want to run into her.” His voice, deep and gruff as he spit chewed tobacco on the floor._

_At the time, I did not know what they were talking about, but obviously… I do now._

_My food had arrived and I quickly ate, wanting to get back to the comforts of my underground make-shift home._

_X_

_Time had skipped to when I was a twenty-seven year old man, still living on the streets, prostituting. One regular woman was really attached to me and offered to pay me not for sex, but for the simple joy of keeping me company. She visited me once every week, making sure I was eating. I do not know how or why she chose me of all people and something about her was off, saying “you are the perfect little angel” or something like that. But if she continued to pay me, I saw nothing wrong._

_This routine of ours became a yearly thing and I really could not understand why she was obsessed with me. I was not attracted to her long, homely face what so ever and would openly admit to using her for her money. It wasn’t until that one day I remember the most and will forever be plastered in my head. The day my transformations begun._

_For a change, I was walking in the “above” ground portion of town, during full daylight. My thirty year old self had nothing to do at the moment and was not offering anything for anyone. I simply strolled through town, not making eye contact with anyone who passed._

_“Levi!” The woman called out as she walked up to me in her long black dress, hair left down from her ponytail. “What are you doing up here? Alone?”_

_“I needed some fresh air” He said._

_“Oh? Are you okay?” Her voice dropped down into an innocent sounding tone._

_“Yes I’m fine, now please leave me alone. I’m not up for social interaction at the moment.”_

_“But honey, I-“_

_“Do not call me honey. We are not dating and we are not married. Please leave me alone.” He quickened his pace and she picked up hers._

_“What is with you today!? Acting like you don’t know me? Are you sure you’re feeling ok sweetie?”_

_“For the last time, leave me the fuck alone. I want nothing to do with you at the moment; anyone in fact. Just go away!”_

_Her face went dark, housing a furious expression. “So are you telling me you used me all those times?” Her voice was raising octaves until she was screaming and creating a scene right in the middle of town, blurry faces looking our way. “That you took my money? That none of my visits mattered to you!? Is that it huh!?” He stopped and looked at her and she continued. “That you never cared for me in return!? Tell me, Levi. Do you love me!?”_

_“You’re nuts, woman!”_

_“DO YOU LOVE ME!?”_

_“NO, HOW’S THAT FOR AN ANSWER!?” He shouted back, losing his patience very quickly._

_“I LOVE YOU LEVI! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!? TO A WOMAN!?” Her eyes started to glow red and she raised her hands. “I LOVE YOU!”_

_The town was whispering to each other as the spectacle panned out. Dark matter formed around her hands as she chanted something in an unknown language. A small arrow head shaped item formed in her hands and she propelled it forward without physically touching it; in a motion that no one could have ever seen coming. The object pierced the right side of my thirty year old body, causing him to fly back and hit the closest building, knocking him unconscious. I watched as the blood poured out of his body until my own vision started to fade as well. The sound of angry villagers and the woman’s shouting was the last thing I heard before the world around me went black._

_X_

_“Levi?” My vision slowly faded back into view. “Levi? Wake up.” A woman’s voice. Hanji’s voice. “Oh dear…”_

_The body on the medical bed had stirred until his eyes flickered open. With a sigh of relief, Hanji had walked next to the bed, examining the face of her patient and friend._

_“-ere… where am… I?” He slowly whispered out, closing his eyes once again._

_“You’re with me. You’re safe now.” She held his hand in hers, rubbing small circles on the back of his hand._

_“What happened? Why does my chest hurt?” At that moment, my own chest started hurting. He lifted his head to attempt to look down but instantly let it fall back on the pillow._

_“You were pierced with dark magic. I do not know what will happen to you, but you will be okay. You’ll survive.”_

_He lifted his head once again and lifted his shirt, looking at the bandages that were wrapped around his chest. Hanji placed her hand on his chest, using her powers to help dull the pain._

_“There’s still something there that I am unable to rid of. I have no antidote for whatever magic she used. It may scar, it may not. Only time will tell.” I lifted my own shirt and looked at where the arrow had pierced my skin. There was no hole, just black veins that spread out from the impact point. So I’m going to have to experience this once again._

_He looked up at Hanji, eyes fully open, looking dazed and confused. She immediately look concerned and inspected his face closer._

_“Levi? What color are your eyes?”_

_“My eyes? Blue… why?” She reached for a piece of paper and began to jot down notes. “What’s wrong?” He continued._

_She handed him a mirror and he took it, looking into his own reflection; silver eyes meeting his._

_“Hanji… what happened to my eyes?” He dropped the mirror and looked up at her. “Did you change them?”_

_“No, I did not. That’s exactly why I’m confused myself.” He picked the mirror up once again and watched his pupils adjust to focus on his reflection. Pain had instantly shot through his arm as he reached for it, holding it tight to his body._

_“What’s happening, Hanji?”_

_“I don’t know Levi, but for now, you are going to have to stay with me. There is no way you are going back out there just yet.”_

_The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils as I looked out the window to see the woman behind my transformation being burned at the stake in the middle of the town square. Angry town folk threw more and more wood into the fire to keep it going, making sure she would never return to this land._

_Pain struck my chest once again and the space around me turned black._

_X_

_I looked down at my now shoeless feet, noticing that my ankles were hurting significantly a lot more. Remembering how I transformed, I reached to my lower back and felt the beginning nub of my tail; not yet at full length and hurting like a bitch._

_Most of my time was spent in the back room of Hanji’s office. She explained how her father had been traveling to other towns and cities to help with sick patients, deeming Hanji fit enough to take care of this town as is._

_We would mark my progress of my slow transformation each day, and it worried her. She was frantically searching for a cure, but nothing was showing to be useful. Many experiments were done to my body proving to be unsuccessful and pointless. At this point, I had simply told Hanji to “forget about it and let me die like this.”_

_A sudden rush of pain struck my whole body, forcing me to curl down onto my knees. I screamed as my canines grew to length, forcing saliva and blood to drip out of my mouth. My tail had grown to about half its lengths and my feet lost a few toes, merging with each other to create long talons in the front and the back. Fur was growing very fast along my legs and my hands; which now housed long claws. I was left to cringe in agony as I heard bones cracking and shifting into my new posture._

_I looked up to see Hanji feeding me through a tube with extra nutritious ground up foods, yet I was unable to keep the weight on my body. No matter how much I ate, my ribcage and hipbones still protruded from under my skin. I watched as his veins would pulse, spreading black poison throughout his body._

_Over time, his transformation not even a quarter complete, he opted to leave Hanji’s office in the cover of night, giving him an opportunity to flee from his past. No messages were left. Not even a goodbye to his best friend. He just got off of the bed, legs wobbling with the loss of toes, and snuck out, not giving a chance for villagers to see his monstrous form._

_Little did I know that if I waited a little longer, her father could have possibly had a cure for me. But I was stupid. I left to live and wonder in the dense forest that surrounded this town._

_X_

_I had lost track of time, but I looked upon the shack that I called home. It was dirty and decrepit, but a perfect place for me to stay where no one could find me. I might have been a home to someone else before, but know it was mine. I had ditched the clothing, folding them up and placing them next to the old, flat mattress._

_Every night was spent in agony, mind rapidly remembering who I once was. Often times I would puke up bile and acid, leaving me with a nasty taste in my mouth. Thank goodness for the lake behind this shack because I was able to freshen myself up and let the water calm my aching body. Letting my mind relax was also a very bad idea at the time. I thought of my father often enough to want me get revenge on him. The thirty-one year old practiced swiping his newly formed claws against some tree bark, pleased with the results. Deeming himself ready, he took off in search of his father once again, sneaking in through the southern gate of town, where he hadn’t even thought to look until now._

_Surprisingly, finding my father hadn’t taken long, you could smell his beer and tobacco stench from a mile away. At least with my new heightened senses I could. He was an old man who was drunk outside a local bar, staggering as he walked. A cloak was wrapped around my body to hide my nakedness and newly formed, short tail, as I stalked him to his location. My childhood home had come into view. The home I grew up in before I was sent to the orphanage. Before the old man had a chance to enter the front door, he grabbed the back of his collar and drug him to the closest dark alley._

_“-eh, whad’ya doing bud!” The old man slurred his words as my younger self threw him forward._

_“Nice to see you too… dad” Was all he said._

_“Dad? I’m not you’ dad now le’ me go!” He tried walking past him, but he had wrapped his furry hand around his neck and slammed him against the wall._

_“How was killing mom you son of a bitch? Did you enjoy it?” Sudden anger was flowing through my chest as I watched the scene play out in front of me. “I wouldn’t expect you to remember me seeing as you left when I was only a kid! Forcing me into an ORPHANAGE!” He slammed his father head against the wall once again._

_The man sharply inhaled at the impact of his head against brick. “Stop!” The man shouted throwing his hands up into the air. “I don’ even know who ya are!”_

_“I wouldn’t expect you too, dad. Maybe my name would ring a bell? Does the name ‘Levi’ sound familiar to you?”_

_The old man’s face dropped immediately. “Levi?”_

_“That’s my name.”_

_“What happened to you?”_

_“None of that will matter in a few seconds” He began to squeeze his hand around the man’s neck, forcing his father to waste his final breathes on screaming as high as he could. With a final crunch, the old man’s body fell limply to the ground._

_The front door to my old house had opened and a woman with a huge stomach had exited with a candle in hand, running over to where the screams were coming from. She dropped the candle at the sight of my father’s dead body. Her face was terrified as she looked at the cloaked figure standing over him._

_“What did you do to daddy?” Her voice was terrified and shaking._

_“Daddy huh?” was all he said as he walked towards her and reached for her neck, pulling her under the cover of darkness. I had to look away for I truly regretted what I did next. The sounds of her screaming filled my ears as I closed my eyes and shed a small tear, cringing. She soon stopped and lay next to her father; my father, with a broken neck and five punctures to her stomach where her baby once lived._

_“No witnesses” was all he said as he walked away from his crime scene._

_X_

_People from the village had become my source of food, mainly because a lot of them had wondered too close to my home. I had lost track of my age but I believe a hundred years have passed. My tail had was halfway grown and all other features have been completed. One night, I was snacking on an arm from the dead body I had chained to my wall in the comforts of my shack when a piercing headache struck. My eyes started to itch and I scratched with my claws, trying to stop the burning sensation that I was feeling. It felt like thousands of needles were poking in and around my eyes. Blood was running down his face from the claw marks as he ran out towards the lake, looking down at his reflection. Black marks had slowly appeared around my eyes, leaving a trail down to my nose. He tried to wash it off but they were permanent._

_The tingling feeling was hitting my face as well. I itched it a little, making sure not to make myself bleed._

_“Hey there, youngling” a low, familiar voice hit my ear. Watching myself stand up, he scanned the surrounding area until he turned around and meet the gaze of a creature just like him. “The names Nile.” He extended his clawed hand expecting him to shake it, but he simply stared back. “Alright then. Anyway, I see you have an established home and everything, but I saw how fast you took down that hunter. Why don’t you say you join us?”_

_“Who’s us?” He asked, confusion in his voice._

_“Oh sorry. RICO, HITCH, YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!”_

_Two females walked out of from behind trees, looking the same except the one girl had split hooves and the other had paws for feet. “Hello, my name is Rico and this is Hitch” she pointed to the other girl._

_“Hello!” was all she said._

_“We are always in need of new members, and seeing as you are by yourself out here, why don’t you join us?” the tall man with black fur said._

_“What exactly do you do?” He replied, folding his arms, still picking at the new markings on his face._

_“We hunt and store food.” The upbeat girl said as she bounced in place._

_“We can take you to our hideout if you’d like” Rico said._

_For some reason, he had agreed and traveled with the strangers to a deep, dark cave that was only lit by one torch. The smell of blood and piss filled my nostrils as I re-entered the cave. This place was disgusting and somehow they called it home. People, living people, were chained to the walls of the cave with cloths tied around their mouths so no screams could be heard. They were all naked and ill looking._

_“Welcome home!” Hitch said as she trailed a finger across the jaw line of a chained man._

_“So what exactly do you guys do?” My younger self had asked again._

_“We take people and feed off them, play with them, you know the fun stuff” Hitch continued._

_“We could always use another partner, food is becoming scarce around here and we need more people to gather it.”_

_“And what’s the catch?”_

_“Nothing, you just have to help us find food.”_

_“If I decide to help you, will you let me stay in my own shack instead of this place?”_

_“You can stay wherever you’d like just as long as you help us” Nile grinned and held out his hand once again. “Do we have a deal?”_

_“Fine.” He took his hand and shook it._

_X_

_A large amount of time had skipped once again. I was now, I believe, 452 years of age? But I have lost count a long time ago. Throughout those years, Nile and the rest of the group would travel into smaller villages gathering most of its population for food to store, often time leaving behind small children to fend for themselves in the wild. I would usually took figures back to my home to look at and collect. It was a very strange habit of mine that I do not remember how it started._

_My temper had cooled over time as well, seeing as I became more and more miserable with myself. Same routine, every month. Over and over and over again. The people’s scared faces were left in my brain and I began regretting everything I had ever done. Killing people became sickening and I wanted to stop. It wasn’t until my last pillage, when I saw a kid that remind me of myself, crying over his mother’s lifeless body, that I decided that enough was enough and began to hunt for what the land supplied. Nile did not question me at first as to why I hunted for deer instead. When Rico asked I simply replied “I want to widen my pallet.”_

_My old village where I lived on the streets continued to send out people during the night to gather food. It wasn’t until a year later that I decided to seek help to get me back into said village. I need to get away from the monster I have become._

_It was the night for gathering food and only Nile had showed up to “hunt” with me, saying that “the girls deserve a night off.” Hiding in a tree close to the northern gate, we watched as three young hunters left for the night. “The blonde one’s will be easy to catch, the brunette on the other hand, has some serious skill and a strong will.”_

_“How do you know?”_

_“This is not the first time I’ve seen him hunt out here. This is, however, the first time when they only sent three at night instead of a whole brigade, making our catch a lot easier.”_

_I looked down at the brunette who was armed and ready for anything. It was my goal to get him to help me. I was the first to leave the tree, spotting a deer close by and breaking its neck, allowing for distraction from the three. Nile had taken advantage and dragged the taller blonde boy away, screaming for help. Help that I could not give. The other two were left mildly frightened, the brunette taking charge of the situation, telling the smaller blonde to run. I looked into his beautiful green eyes and he looked into mine. He was a very handsome human and I truly did not want to hurt him, but I had to take him away from this dangerous location._

_I picked up his limp body and carried him bridal style towards my home, time around me skimming by as I walked. Eren soon vanished from my hands and I was left to look at my black furry palms. The memories from the months spent with Eren; the kissing and the cuddling, the bathing and the almost daily walks together, all the laughter had stopped. Flickers of Nile attacking me and jumping after Eren had appeared then faded away. There was I tight feeling around my neck as the dark void began to spin, making me dizzy. I fell on my back, feeling pain pierce my body, making me unable to move. Blood started to pour out of my ribs and down my body. Finding strength, I slowly stood back up, unable to see two feet in front of me._

_“You left me, Levi.” A voice called from my right._

_“You hurt me, Levi.” The same voice, but from my left._

_“You promised me, Levi.” Eren’s voice._

_Slowly, a figure walked forward, but it was hard to see. It looked like… Eren. My heart started pounding._

_My heart… was pounding. I laid my hand on top of my chest and I could finally feel my beat. I couldn’t help but smile._

_But that smile soon dropped as Eren came into full view; arms both severed off at the shoulders, blood pouring out each socket and soaking the shirt I had given him; my old shirt._

_“You promised me, Levi. You promised” was all he said as he came to a stop in front of me._

_“Eren!? What happened to-“_

_“You let me go, and he had gotten to me.”_

_“Who got to you!?”_

_“The creature of the night” was all he said, bloody tears falling from his eyes. “You left the world and he got to me.”_

_“No you’re wrong!”_

_“I am never wrong, Levi.”_

_“I-I remember killing him and lighting the shack on fire. I ripped his throat out and he bled to death. I survived!”_

_Eren’s skin began to slowly melt away, revealing a skull that began to scream, piercing my sensitive ears. I cupped them and began to scream myself._

_“AHHHH! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE… IT…”_

_“_ STOP!”

My body was jolted forward, leaving me to breath heavy. My eyes shot open leaving me confused as to where I was. I put my hand on my chest, unable to feel my heartbeat.

“Oh good, you’re awake!” I looked over to see a blonde woman dressed in green wrapping bandagesaround a porcupine’s foot.

I blinked a few times, looking around at all the bandaged animals in this room. “Where am I?” I asked.

“You’re at my house, you are my patient and I am here to take care of you.” Placing the animal down, she walked over and put her hand in her pocket. “Eren told me to give this to you once you woke.” She pulled out a figure that was familiar and handed it to me. I cupped it in my hands and examined the figures pink porcelain dress.

“Eren’s here? How long have I been asleep?”

“Hm… a month I believe?”

“A month?” Impossible.

“Yup” was all she said, nodding her head.

“Where’s Eren? I need to see him!” my voice sounding frantic.

“Calm down, he’s out back tending to the garden.”

“So he is here.” I sighed in relief. “I need to see him.”

“Are you able to stand?”

“Let me try.”

I slid out from under the covers, draping my feet over the side of the bed, wiggling my toes. I placed the figure on the nightstand and slowly let my feet touch the ground, allowing my ankles to take the weight. I took a step forward and wobbled a bit. My foot was wrapped in bandages and kinda stung as I settled down on it.

“Hold on, I got ya” the woman said, wrapping an arm around my waist and slightly lifting me up. She led me through the house, which was filled with nothing but wild critters. I saw a man and woman sitting next to each other on the couch with a baby sleeping on their laps. They both looked at me and I looked at them as I walked by, each looking similar to myself.

The walk was slow and the woman opened the door to what I assume was the back yard. I could hear talking and as we rounded the corner, I saw the small blonde boy from my memories stop what he was doing and stared at me with a big smile on his face.

“Eren, turn around” was all he said as he placed vegetables into his basket.

“Now’s not the time Armin. Nanaba need’s these carrots picked and washed by tonight!” He said, still crouching down, facing the garden.

“Nanaba needs you to turn around and look at something else, Eren” the woman next to me said, still holding me up by my waist. My smile was so huge I couldn’t contain it. I wanted nothing more than to run up to Eren and give him a big hug. But I couldn’t even stand, let alone run. My tail was flipping back and forth a mile a minute, hitting the poor woman that was helping me stand.

Eren’s head looked over his left shoulder, eyes going wide and immediately stood up, ripping off his gloves and walking over to me. His eyes were glistening, tears forming at each duct.

“Levi?” He spoke first, voice cracking. “You’re awake?”

“Yeah… I’m awake” I smiled.

He looked over at the woman and asked “can I hold him?” To which she nodded and unwound her arm, allowing me to wrap mine around Eren’s much taller neck. He gingerly wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me up right.

“I missed you so much, I didn’t know if you’d even wake up.” He sniffled and tears began to flow down his cheeks. “Are you hurting anywhere?” He looked at me with those vibrant green eyes, shining even more due to the wetness.

“No not really, just my ankle. Other than that I’m fine.” And without warning, he tugged me into the tightest hug I could have ever imagined. My vertebrae cracked and crunched under his hug, which surprisingly felt good to have them realigned after a month of the same posture. He nuzzled my hair and I nuzzled his neck, breathing in his scent. The two blondes had left us to go back inside the house, giving us privacy.

“I thought you were dead, Levi. You scared me!” He pushed back from the hug to look me in the eyes again.

“I’m sorry, kid” I chuckled, knowing that he hated that nickname.

“Hey, I’m no kid” he pouted.

“I know” I paused, taking in the sight of him. “I do have a secret for you, would you like to hear?”

“Of course I would like to hear” his voice going soft.

I shifted my weight so I could lean up to his ear, cupping my hand around my mouth, making sure no-one else could hear. “453” was all I said as I replaced my gaze on his.

His face housed a very confused expression. “453? What does that mean?”

I smiled.

“Eren?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m 453 years old. I remembered.”

His face dropped then smirked. “You look good for an old man” he said sheepishly, face blushing bright red.

“Count myself lucky.”

Eren leaned down to plant a kiss on my cheek and I made sure to catch his face before he pulled away, forcing him to plant one on my lips. Our bodies were pushed closer to each other as we stood there, planting light kisses on each other’s lips.

Eren broke the kiss first and glanced down. “You’re not wearing your cloth are you” he whispered looking back up at me.

“I’ve just come back from the dead and you’re worried about whether or not you can see my dick? Shame.”

All he did was laugh. “Did you want to go inside and meet everyone else? It’s the polite thing to do.”

“Not really, but I guess I have to.” With that, Eren let go of one arm from around my waist, sliding it down to the back of my knees and scooped me up into his arms. “Whoa! Didn’t know you were this strong!” I was surprised as he began to walk back towards the house.

“I’m a lot stronger than I look” he smiled, planting a kiss on my shoulder.

This was definitely strange, being carried bridal style for the first time in my entire life, especially by the one I love.


	10. Stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you all for the wonderfully kind words! It makes me so happy to know that you guys are enjoying this story!  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter! (sorry for the long awaited update, please blame the end of the semester and finals and research papers)  
> PS: Would anyone like me to post some sketches based on Levi's design?? Let me know in the comments or on my tumblr! Feel free to draw your own pictures of Levi as well!!!! I'm curious to see how your brains imagine him! I will track any tumblr posts under the tag 'Fic: Make Me Human' if you wanted to post it, or you could always submit it! (*is secretly a hopeful fangirl*)  
> PPS: SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION: I recently created a FB page for my cosplays! If you were interested in checking out my cosplays you can here: https://www.facebook.com/snoellecosplay  
> Feel free to Like my page to show your support! Thank You!!! :3

Carrying Levi was a lot tougher than it looked, especially for someone of his stature. My muscles had a slight burn but there was no way I was going to let go anytime soon. Not since I just got him back into my life. As I walked, he did nothing but stare at me with those big, soppy eyes, not once turning his head. I looked down at his face, which seemed skinnier than before, like he had lost even more valuable weight. I felt his ribs and spine touching my arm through his bandages; legs against the other. I reached for the door and swung it open, being met with nothing but eyes as I entered the house. Armin was holding one of the resident rabbits, sitting in front of the couch where Petra, Auruo, and new baby Jade were sitting. Nanaba was most likely in the kitchen because I heard water splashing and food being chopped.

I crossed the room and set Levi slowly down onto the available loveseat. He winced at the pain from his foot landing on the ground. I lifted it up and slid a pillow under it, making sure it felt better to him. He simply nodded and I took a seat next to him on the couch. Levi leaned back into the plushness of the couch and let out a large sigh of content. The silence in the room was getting too much for me.

“So Levi, I’d like to properly introduce you to everyone. That’s my best friend, Armin.”

“Hello” Armin waved towards Levi. “Nice to meet you.” Levi simply waved back and stayed quiet.

“The woman in the kitchen is Nanaba. She found you after you were knocked unconscious and healed you back to perfect health. Make sure you thank her ok?”

“Ok” he nodded.

“And this is Petra, her husband Auruo and their baby, Jade.”

Auruo simple waved, starring Levi down. It was rather uncomfortable.

“Hello! Nice to meet you Levi! Eren has told us so much about you!”

“Good things, I hope” Levi commented from beside me. I simply giggled.

“Oh yes, very good things! How you’re caring and how you saved him from danger. He even said that he wouldn’t mind having-” Auruo’s hand flew up to Petra’s mouth.

“Petra, I think that’s enough. We don’t want to embarrass him in front of his boyfriend.” Auruo’s hand slowly fell and Petra began to giggle. My face was heating up at that word. _Gets me every time_!

Levi’s head turned towards me with a small smirk and an eyebrow raised. “What wouldn’t you mind doing, Eren?” Levi poked my side and the heat had spread to my ears and the back of my neck.

“I uh… I’ll t-tell you later” I stuttered.

Levi leaned up to my ear and whispered “I’ll look forward to it.” He purred as he kissed my cheek and settled back down.

Armin stood up and gently placed the rabbit onto the ground. “I’ll let you guys chat for a bit, I need to help Nanaba feed the animals.” Armin walked towards the kitchen, leaving the room in silence.

Levi cleared his throat nervously. “So, you two had a baby, congrats.”

“Oh, thank you!”

“But if you don’t mind me asking, how is that possible?”

Petra looked over at Levi in confusion, cradling the baby girl close to her bare chest. “What do you mean?”

“I think what he means is how did you guys even have a baby in the first place.”

The two of them looked at each other then back at us. “We did it like any other person would. Why is this so confusing?” Petra looked over at me. Levi’s face was looking towards his lap when he sighed.

“If you guys are like me, then how is it possible for your baby to turn out… like one of us? Weren’t you human at one point?” Levi lifted his head and looked at the baby.

“Levi, we carry the genes in our body, that’s how.”

There was a long silence until Auruo spoke up. “I was… but Petra was not. I had turned by unnatural means many years ago. ”

“It’s true. And I was born like this. I look just like my parents.”

“How old are you guys anyway?”

Petra looked at Auruo and Auruo looked at Petra. “I turned when I was 34, making me now…” he trailed off.

“You’re 613, honey. And I was born 298 years ago. But clearly, our age gap does not matter between us, as it clearly doesn’t bother you either.”

I placed my hand on Levi’s lap, earning a smile from him. “So if he was human before, how come the baby didn’t come out as a human?” I asked, squeezing Levi’s soft leg.

“Well because his body was implanted with the DNA from my species which-”

“Species?” Levi’s voice was filled with surprise as he slightly leaned forward. “You mean there’s more of you; of us?”

“Yeah actually. We’ve been around for a while now. I mean the original 100 members were spliced by cruel souls, but we were able to evolve and create a vas diversity within our own race. We created our own cultures; our own way of living. A community for us to live and thrive in. And it’s been this way for thousands of years.”

“Do you know if there’s a cure!? A way to change back?”

“Levi, why would you want that?”

“Because I’ve been miserable my whole existence.” He paused. “That was… until I met Eren. And I want to change back for him, so we can be together and escape my past.” He grabbed my hand, holding it tightly.

“Levi, we do not know of any cure. The only ones who might know are the remaining original spliced leaders.”

“Then take me to them.”

I squeezed his hand. “Levi, you are too weak for any of this right now. You need to relax.”

“I know.” He sighed.

“We can’t leave anytime soon either. Petra and Jade are not strong enough to make the trek back.” Auruo paused. “But if you must, I guess you guys could tag along when we’re ready.”

“Thank you, Auruo.” I said.

Armin had re-entered the room with some washed carrots and sat on the floor, rabbits immediately running up to him. This became a daily routine for him. Levi became extremely quiet and leaned his head on my shoulder, watching each rabbit hop up to Armin. Petra and Auruo had excused themselves for some alone time out back, placing a very sleepy baby Jade in her crib that Nanaba wove together. Me and Armin made small talk, mostly about how mom and Mikasa were holding up. See, halfway through the month waiting for Levi to wake, Armin wanted to head back to the village to let mom and Mikasa know we were still alive and were fine exploring another town. He stayed a couple days with them, then headed back, much to the displeasure of Mikasa. Armin had been living with my family since his grandfather had moved to the south. Why? I do not remember to be completely honest. He still carried his book around, which he added a few pages depicting the “species” that Levi, Petra and Auruo were. He titled it “Creature” in his book since, well, we really do not know what they are, if they even go by a certain name.

After some time had passed, Nanaba served us some food while we were sitting on the couches, Petra and Auruo already settled in bed. She gave us a form of vegetable soup that became an instant favorite of mine, thanks to whatever Nanaba put into it. She handed me my bowl and held her hand out for Levi to take his. His face was buried in my shoulder.

“Levi, wake up, dinner.” No response. “Levi” I shook my shoulder. “Get up!” He simply grumbled into my chest and wrapped an arm around my neck, pulling me closer. “I don’t think he’s hungry yet. Sorry.”

“No no it’s fine, I’ll put his bowl back in the pot, when he’s ready I can dish him some out. Just let him rest for now.”

“Alright, thank you.” Nanaba walked back into the kitchen and got ready for her nightly rounds. I think she said she had some bat houses to tend to tonight so she wouldn’t be home. Again.

“You look comfortable Eren.” Armin slurped at his spoon, taking in all the delicious veggies. “And so does he.” I looked at the way Levi was “laying”. His hips facing forward in the chair while his torso clung to me. His chest rose and fell slowly with each breath. “He missed you as much as you missed him, didn’t he.”

“Yeah.” I took my first spoonful of delicious soup and let the warm liquid slide down my throat and into my stomach. _Levi, you’re seriously missing out_!

“Maybe you should put him to bed, it is dark out now.”

“Let me finish my bowl first then I’ll probably call it a night myself.”

“Alright, you two can share the bed, I’ll stay out here tonight. Or I can ask Nanaba for her bed.”

“You mean the one she never uses?” I took another spoonful of soup, chewing on the carrots and swallowing.

“Haha yeah, poor Nanaba. You know, sometimes I feel like she needs a break or at least someone to help her all the time.”

“Armin, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that maybe, I could just stay here and help out for a bit, you know?”

“I mean I understand and you do have a way with the animals, but I figured you would’ve wanted to come with us to find a cure?”

“Oh don’t get me wrong, I do. And I’m interested in finding out what these creatures are, but I’m saying afterwards. After we travel, I could just stay here and help Nanaba. I’d visit you guys I promise!” Armin had finished his bowl and got up, ready to clean it in the kitchen. “You almost done?”

“Yeah” I ditched the spoon and gulped down the rest of my soup right from the bowl. I handed it to Armin and he left the room.

Making sure to not wake Levi, I wrapped my arm around his back and slowly leaned forward to grab his legs, hoisting him up into my arms once again. He made a small grunting noise and settled back into my chest. I began walking when he lifted his head, eyes half-lidded and watery.

“Where we goin’?” He asked drowsily.

“To bed” I replied, entering the bedroom and settling his body onto the mattress.

“So comfy, join me” he said with a large yawn, baring all of his sharp teeth and dark mouth. I walked around to the other side and climbed onto the bed, pulling the sheets over the both of us. He immediately curled up next to my body, generating my own personal heater. He looked up at me, still with sleep in his eyes. “What’d you wanna have with me? The redhead said something ‘bout you wanting-” another yawn. “Wanting something with me.”

“Oh that? It was nothing, now go to sleep.”

“But I wanna know” he slurred his low toned words.

“It was nothing, seriously.”

“S’it sex? It is isn’t it. I’m down for that.” He ran one clawed finger up and down my chest, the point catching the fabric of my shirt as he did so.

“No it’s not that.”

“Then, what is it, Eren?”

“Well, with there being a baby in the house now, I just thought about… what if you mixed our features? What would our baby would look like? That’s all.”

“Aw… Eren wants a baby… with me” another large yawn. I felt some spit actually fly onto my face with that one. “I want a baby, Eren. Let’s have… a baby. Yeah, a whole litter.” He blinked his heavy eyes a few times. _He’s probably feeling side effects from whatever Nanaba gave him_.

“How about you talk to Nanaba tomorrow about how babies actually work, THEN we could have kids, ok?” _I don’t think he heard the sarcasm_.

“Okay.” He burrowed his head into my chest and made himself comfortable, throwing on leg over my waist and curling his tail around my feet. “Night, Eren.”

“Night, crazy old man.”

It wasn’t long after that I had fallen asleep as well.

X

The warm sun beaming from the bedroom window was what woke me the next morning. Not wanting to fully get up, I reached my hand out to find the sheets and bring them over my head. I patted the mattress and felt a large amount of empty space next to me. _Didn’t I go to bed with Levi_? My eyes shot open and saw that the mattress only had my body in it. I looked around the room and saw that he wasn’t even in here at all. _Where could you have gone_? Slight panic ran through my system as I shot out of bed and sped towards the door.

I stopped my hand at the knob as I heard muffled talking from the other side. I gently turned the knob to crack the door open, hearing Armin’s voice… and Levi. I eavesdropped onto their conversation for a bit before wanting to make my entrance.

“You guys do this every day?”

“Yup, it really helps Nanaba out, you know? She’s such a hard worker.”

“So, what exactly does she do?”

“Mainly she tends for the injured, sick, or weak; just like you! Most animals get re-released, but others, like these rabbits, are better off in here where it’s safe.”

“I see. And the chipmunks and shrews I keep seeing?”

“Same. Oh! That one rabbit over there was one that Eren confided in while you were unconscious. He named it after you and carried it everywhere he went.”

“Heh, I can see why.” I heard some small shuffling. “Hey buddy, I hear you’re Eren’s favorite.”

“Be careful, he has a bad leg” Armin stated. “Here give this to him.”

“Thanks.” I heard the door to Petra’s room open and out came a slightly whiney baby.

“Uh-oh, someone’s cranky! Petra, do you need help with anything?”

“No thank you, Armin. She’s just hungry. Do you mind if I have a seat?”

“Not at all!” Armin said.

I heard Petra sit into the plush couch and the baby hushed up immediately. “Is Eren still asleep?”

“You guessed it. Kid can sleep through anything” Levi chuckled.

Petra giggled. “Sounds like Auruo. Once he’s out, he’s out! Can’t even wake him up with a screaming baby around!”

“I can tell!” Armin chuckled, shuffling some more.

There was some silence before Petra began to speak. “Levi, if you don’t mind me asking, why do you want to change back so bad?”

“I understand if you don’t want to answer, I’m just a curious soul” she giggled.

He sighed. “I’ve done some awful things in the past that I would like to disassociate myself with. Things that I haven’t told Eren. Things that I won’t tell anybody. It’s just stuck in my brain forever. I guess… my hope is that when I change back, the massive amounts of human interaction will convince me enough that in fact I am still human and not some form of killing monster.” Silence. “Sorry.”

“No, Levi, I completely understand.” Petra’s voice was soft and soothing, showing a bit of compassion. “You didn’t know what to do with yourself so you… you killed others.”

“But I’ve changed! I don’t do that anymore!”

“I believe you, Levi. Auruo was the same way. According to him, he has killed his fair share of people in the past and you know what, that’s what forgiveness is for.”

“Yeah, but there’s one thing that I absolutely cannot forgive myself for.” There was a slight hurt in the tone of his voice _. I need to comfort him_. I slowly opened the door and walked out into the room. All eyes were on me as I stepped forward in front of the couches. I knelt down next to Levi who had Mr. Levi Rabbit in his lap. I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he looked me in the eyes.

“I see you’ve made some friends out here. Are you ok?” I began to rub circles onto his back. He sighed.

“Yeah” he said, placing the rabbit on the ground and standing up, hobbling in the process. “I need some fresh air.” He began walking towards the front door, limping and wincing with each step. I ran up next to him and he simply swatted my outstretched hand away.

“Levi?”

“I need to be alone, ok!?” He continued out the door, almost tripping twice.

“Give him some time, Eren” Petra said.

I stood there looking out the door, waiting for him to come back in. I turned to look at Armin who was standing in front of the couch. “You were listening weren’t you.”

“… yeah, and?”

“I saw the door open a crack so I figured as much. We know as much as you know about his past, which is nothing.”

“I know some bits, just not what caused him to act like this.”

“Eren, we didn’t mean for him to get upset, I just asked a simple question, that being why he wanted to change.” I looked over at Petra.

“He’s trapped. That’s why.” She looked confused. “Now I’m going out there to comfort him, ok?” I walked over to the door and headed outside, closing it softly. I scanned the area for any signs of Levi. The only thing I could hear was a hitting noise, so I followed the sound. I rounded a few trees and saw Levi clawing the bark off another, leaving red streaks of blood in the process.

“LEVI!” I ran over to him, pulling him away from the tree. “You need to calm down!”

“NO! LET ME GO!” He squirmed in my arms as I held him tightly against my chest.

“NO LEVI! YOU NEED TO STOP! LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS! PLEASE!”

“NO! JUST STOP IT! STOP!”

“NO, I WILL NOT LET GO UNTIL YOU CALM DOWN!” His frantic kicking and air swatting slowly calmed down. I tightened my grip around him making sure not to drop him on his bad foot.

“Look at you, Levi. Your hands are soaked with blood.” I examined his fingers and saw that two of his claws had been broken off, causing the massive amounts of blood. “You need to get that wrapped! Let’s go get Nanaba and we can talk about this.”

He didn’t reply. Instead, his body began shaking. I looked at his face and he was… crying. A steady flow of tears were streaming down his cheeks.

“Come on, let’s get you fixed up.” I carried him back to the house and he buried his face into my chest as we walked. “Get Nanaba” I said as I entered the house. I walked him into the room he was originally kept in, laying his body on the bed. Nanaba came running in and cleaned his wounds very quick, wrapping them in record speed.

“Sweetie, you need to treat your claws with respect, they’re not like fingernails where they grow back in the matter of weeks. These are going to take most likely a few months to grow back to length.” She patted a teary eyed Levi on the back and turned to leave. “Oh, and try not to lose the other ones.” She left the room and I looked at his hands sitting on his lap. His right index claw and his left pinky claw were both missing; just white bandages in their place.

He sniffled and I looked up at him. “Are you ok, Levi? Do you want to talk about it?”

He let out a heavy breath only to sniffle again. “I’m not ready. Would you mind letting me think for a bit?”

“Sure thing, let me know when you’re ready to talk, ok?”

“Okay.”

“Alright, well I’ll be outside, ok? If you need me, just yell.”

“Okay. Got it.”

I walked out the room and shut the squeaky door for Levi. I left the house and walked back to the poor, mutilated tree, examining the gashes and missing bark. One of Levi’s claws were stuck in the tree. I grabbed for it, but it wouldn’t budge. I used both hands to pull, then adding my foot for extra leverage. The thing was deeply wedged in there. I wiggled it up and down which loosened it a little, giving me more wiggle room to pull it out. It only took one more tug for it to come un-lodged, causing me to fly back and land hard on my rear. I held the black claw in triumph and began looking for the other one, which didn’t take long. I held both claws in my hand and quickly looked for Nanaba.

“Do you have anything that can cut a hole in these? And maybe some string?”

She looked into my hand and smiled. “I can show you what I have.”

X

“Eren!”

I heard my name being called from the room that Levi was currently in. I got up from my seat and walked into the room. Levi was laying in the bed with his back raised. I shut the door and walked over to him. “Are you ready to talk?” His head slowly turned to look at me, his eyes immediately starring at my chest.

“Eren, what is that?”

“This?” I took of my necklace and held it up for Levi to see. “I made it, for you actually.” He sat up straight and I slipped it over his head and around his neck.

“You made a necklace with my claws?”

“And some beads that Nanaba had laying around. Do you like it?”

He had a small smile appearing. “I love it, actually.” His hand shot up to feel the smooth surface of each sky blue bead. The string was thin leather cording and each claw had wire wrapped around them to keep them in place.

“Good, because it’s yours; for you’re to never be without your claws.”

Levi was silent while looking at each piece of the necklace. “Actually, Eren... I feel you should have it instead.” He slid off the necklace and replaced it onto my neck. “I want you to know that I’ll always be with you.”

I wasn’t offended. It was a nice gesture for Levi to let me keep the claws. They would be a constant reminder that Levi was part of my life now. So I simply smiled and said “thank you”.

“I’m ready to talk now.”

I sat next to him on the bed, putting a reassuring arm around his shoulders.

He sighed.

“When I was young, my father had killed my mother which left me wanting to get my revenge on the man. But I wasn’t able to until I had transformed and left the village. He was surprisingly easy to find, old, drunk and smelled like cigars and piss. He was yelling at me and I yelled back, throwing accusation after accusation at him. It got to the point where anger filled my whole body and I slammed his head into a wall multiple times, then broke his neck” he paused. “But that’s not what has me upset.”

I simply squeeze my arm, urging him to go on.

“Seeing Petra and her baby has me shaken up the most. Because on that night, my half-sister had walked over to see the commotion… and… she saw me, standing over my father’s dead body. She screamed and I couldn’t let myself get caught.” He paused, shaking a bit. “Not only did I kill her, but I k-killed her… un-b-born baby. Stabbing it… five FUCKING times, Eren! There was no reason for me to kill someone who had nothing to do with my father’s affair! A BABY FOR FUCKS SAKE! It could have all been avoided if I wasn’t turned into this… THING! If I hadn’t lived on the streets for most of my life!” He began to cry again, tears streaming down his face. “I got with a bad crowd, causing me to kill more and more people; torturing them and letting them attempt survival chained up in their own shit. It was horrible.”

I wrapped my other arm around his body and hugged him tight.

“Do you hate me, Eren?” He asked, voice shaking slightly.

“No, Levi. Why would I hate you? I love you just the way you are.”

His eyes were stained red, tears slowly dripping down his cheeks. I took my thumbs and wiped away all the pain, all the hurt he was feeling. I planted a kiss onto his lips reassuring that I do, in fact, love him the way he is, even with a haunting past.

“I love you so much, Eren.”

“I love you too.”

I crawled to the other side of the bed and made myself comfortable, pulling Levi close and tight. He placed a hand onto my face and kissed my forehead. I clutched at the pair of claws around my neck, looking into those silver eyes as the red slowly cleared away.

X

A few weeks had passed since Levi’s small breakdown. He seemed to get better with dealing with his memories and even got to the point where Petra allowed him to hold baby Jade, comfortably. He cradled the small girls head and examined her little form over, smiling.

Auruo had stated that it was about time for the two of them to head back. We packed our belongings and said our goodbyes to Nanaba. She didn’t seem all too sad, but I knew deep down she would miss us.

“Nanaba, don’t forget about what I talked to you about ok?”

“Sure thing, Armin. You are always welcomed back here! And Eren? Please take care of Levi? I won’t be there in case he loses anymore claws.”

“Oh haha!” Levi said sarcastically.

“Don’t worry, Nanaba” I looked at Levi and grabbed his hand. “I will!”

“Alright than, thank you again, Nanaba, but I believe it’s time for me and Petra to get back.”

“See you soon, Nanaba!”

“You too, guys!” Nanaba waved and we simultaneously left the house. Armin and I slung our saddles onto the horse’s backs and soon climbed on.

“Levi, hop on.” I patted the saddle and he soon climbed on, sitting behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Petra, did you want to share my horse?”

“Oh, no thank you Armin, I’m quite alright, I have Auruo to carry me if I get tired.” Auruo shook his head and Petra giggled. Baby Jade was cradled against Petra’s chest and held in place by a makeshift sling.

I shook the reigns to get the horse to start moving. “Lead the way, guys!” The couple was a couple feet in front of us as we followed on our horses. “This your first horse ride, Levi?”

“Yes. I don’t know how you do it, my legs hurt already.” He rest his head on my shoulder, talking low in my ear.

“Years of practice, I guess.”

“You know, I don’t even know how old you are. What’s your age?”

I chuckled. _I guess I never told him_. “Ah, that doesn’t matter, does it? Age doesn’t matter, remember?”

“But I’m curious. I want to know.”

“Fine. I’m in my twenties, but that’s all you’re getting.”

“So young” Levi whispered in my ear.

“Would you two get a room!?” I looked over my shoulder to see Armin giggling.

“Ha-ha, Armin.” I turned back around and continued to keep my horse steady. “So, how long is this trip exactly?”

“Oh, just a day or two, nothing too bad! It’s just slow because we walk.” Petra looked over her shoulder to make eye contact with me.

“Okay, I was just wondering. We won’t uh… get attacked since we’re human, right?”

“You two should be fine! Most people are really nice and excepting of newcomers, but I cannot guarantee everyone would enjoy your presence.”

“Oh... thanks for the heads up.”

“No problem!”

Our ride was long and slow, causing us to not arrive until dawn. Once we arrived, our eyes were met with a surprise.

“Oh, my-”


	11. Community

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! sorry for the long update! I really have no excuse other than writers block sucks! Thank you so much for sticking around and for your patience!  
> (Just a heads up for you guys! This chapter contains MINOR Manga Spoilers! If you are not caught up with the manga I apologize!!!!)  
> ((ONE MORE THING! I will be heading down to Otakon 2014 with my good friend Nowl (Author of the Ereri 365 Project!) If you would like to come and say hello, feel free at anytime! We will be around the center all days of the weekend! Hope to meet some fellow Ereri/SNK fans!))

“Oh my…”

“Petra, there’s nothing here!”

Apparently, we had finally made it to the “community”, but all my eyes saw was a vast field of nothing. Just grass and tall weeds.

“It’s here alright! Just follow me!”

With little Jade resting in her arms, Petra began to walk forward into the field and began to slowly disappear. Auruo followed after her and soon disappeared as well. I looked at Armin who was hesitantly propelling his horse forward. I watched him slowly get eaten up by invisible nothing.

“You should probably just follow,” Levi states, arms still wrapped around my waist. I tapped my heels against the horse’s sides, commanding it to move forward.

I watched as this strange field slowly gulped up my horse, followed by me and Levi.

My vision was immediately faced with a massive sized wooden stake fence that expanded off into the distance.

“Okay, now we are here!” Petra giggled as she walked towards the gigantic gate, tapping her knuckles against the wood in a distinct tune. The gate slowly opened and she waved her hand for us to follow. “We just had to cross through the protective barrier between your world and ours.”

I looked up in awe at the massive structure. There were different variants of “creature” guarding the fence; each holding a form of protective weaponry.

“Wow,” Armin gasped from beside me. “Look at all these people! They’re so different! And unique!” I could practically see his gears turning in his brain.

I let out a small chuckle, amused by Armin’s huge smile and excited exterior. I looked around at all the different well-kept tents and homes. This was way different from the village I had grown up in. I looked at all the different vendors lined up on either side of us; fish vendors, poultry and meat vendors, even a fruits and vegetable vendor, all with patrons who were looking to buy.

But to say that we didn’t get stared at was an understatement. People from left and right were looking at us strange. _Were they not used to seeing a human_? I saw people whispering and staring as we passed by.

I decided it was best for keeping my eyes forward and not focus on what they could be saying about us.

My ears started to hear a slight galloping from behind, but I didn’t bother to turn around.

“I knew I smelled horses!” A gentle voice came from my left flank. I looked over my shoulder and saw what looking to be a really tall man walking steady with us.

“Hey, bud, could you stop sniffing me?” Levi had shifted slightly to the right to get away from this man.

“Oh, sorry! You’re not from around here are you?”

“No… I am not,” Levi stated, dryly.

“Where are you from!?”

“None of your business,” he hissed.

“Hmp,” the person had walked up to my eye level, revealing that he was in fact one of them.

 I think.

“So what about you? Where are you from?”

“Not from around here either, actually.” I looked down at his lower body and saw that he had a set of four legs and hooves. He was part horse! _What did Armin call these things_!? “You’re uh… a centaur?”

“A what?”

“A centaur, you know, half-man, half-horse?”

The freckled man giggled. “I didn’t realize there was a name for my kind!”

“Well looking around I see there is a variety of your kind, but yes, you in particular have a name back where I come from.”

“That’s so cool!” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and bumped my head with his. “Welcome to the neighborhood!”

“Thanks. Is that how you greet?”

“Yup! That’s how I greet, it’s just instinct, I guess. Anyway, my name is Marco!”

“Eren. And Mr. Grumpy behind me is Levi.”

“Eren who’re you talking too,-”Armin had stopped his horse in its tracks to slow down to our pace. “Oh my goodness! A live centaur!  I’ve- I never- I got to- hello!”

Marco chuckled at Armin’s response. “And hello to you too!”

“Yeah, this is my friend, Armin. He’s kinda mythical creature know it all.”

“I so am! Oh my goodness this is so cool! We need to talk sometime- if that’s alright with you that is.” Armin scratched the back of his head, sheepishly.

“That’s totally fine! I love meeting new people! Say, where are you guys off to anyway?”

“Well, we came all this way because Levi is looking for a cure to change him back to human.”

Marco’s face lost its smile and turned to look at Levi. “Why would you want to do that? Turning was the best thing to happen to me! I mean, not at first, but over time I had grown into this new body of mine and I was even able to find my true love.”

“Oh congrats!” Armin let out a small clap from the side.

I could feel Levi’s glare onto Armin. “Anyway, unlike you, I’ve done some horrible shit in the past that I’d like to get away from. This body serves as a constant reminder of it and I want it gone.”

“Oh… I don’t even know of any cure in existence. I’m pretty sure people would have found out about it by now.”

“Well there’s a slight hope that your leader may know of a way to find a cure.”  

“Oh okay. You’re actually not that far from his quarters.” Marco smiled and his long, horse like ears perked up. “I’ll just be heading out, I can hear my fiancé calling! See you around!”

 _I heard nothing_.

Marco had pulled out into one of the side alleys and galloped away from our group. It wasn’t long until his clacking had faded into the distance.

“Almost there guys!” Petra yelled from the front of our slow moving group.

X

“Gunther! Erd! So nice to see you!”

“Petra!”

“Hey Petra! How’s the baby?”

Petra one arm hugged the two, what I assume, guards outside this large building, each adorning large spears and a distinct wooden mask that was flipped to reveal their faces. “Guys, this is baby Jade!” Petra cradled the wide awake infant, arms reaching out towards Auruo. Auruo took the baby and showed her off to the two men.   

“She’s beautiful!” The blonde man stooped to the baby’s level and examined her. “She has your eyes!”

“Good job, my man,” the black haired man playfully elbowed Auruo in the side.

“Heh, you’re telling me!” Auruo chuckled in reply, all while holding baby Jade tightly.

I glanced at Armin who was jotting something down in his book. Probably more information about these creatures.

I cleared my throat trying to get his attention.

“Oh! I am so sorry! Guys, this is Eren, Armin and Levi! And this is Gunther and Erd!” She gestured to each man with the name that corresponds. “We were actually here to see Erwin.”

“Hm… I don’t think he’s particularly busy at the moment, but you know how he is with… outsiders” the blonde haired man said.

“I know,” Petra whispered. “But I already promised them I’d take them to see him.”

“It’s true.” Auruo stated, nodding his head in validation.

The dark haired man sighed and looked towards us. “When you go in, be respectful as possible and do not, I repeat, DO NOT stare at his arm, got it?”

“Yes sir!” Armin saluted, hopping down from his horse and tethering it to a post. I got off my horse and helped Levi slowly get down, not wanting to hurt his foot; tethering the horse as well.

“I’m going to stay out here with Jade, alright?” Auruo placed a kiss on Petra’s forehead.

She chuckled and kissed his cheek in return. “Alright boys! Let’s head inside!” The two men cleared the double door entrance and allowed Petra to head inside first. I wrapped my arm around Levi’s torso and helped keep weight off his ankle.

Entering the dark building was a bit nerve racking. It was quiet, vast, and the only light shining through were from the stained-glass windows depicting gruesome scenes. One was of decapitation, another was of someone burning at the stake.

We walked along a long, maroon carpet which stretched all the way to the back of the building.

“Petra,” a low, gruff voice called from behind the shadows in the distance. “A pleasure, but who might I ask, did you bring along with you?”

“Erwin, these men have traveled a long way to seek your help.”

“They did, did they?” His tone sounded intrigued. “And what help am I to them?”

“They want to find a cure, for the short one, sir. He wants to turn human again.”

Levi huffed in my ear, glaring at the woman.

“A cure?”

“Yes.”

“Did you tell them that there IS no cure?”

“…yes, sir.”

“Yet you still brought them here? Why?”

“Well, I was hoping that maybe you’d have any sort of idea on how to create a cure.”

“Oh Petra… if I had any sort of idea, I would have cured myself a long time ago.”

Shuffling was heard followed by a loud thump. The figure slowly walked into view. He was tall. Very tall. And his left hand held a walking stick with various ornaments tied around the top. I think one might have been a shrunken head, but I didn’t want to know at the moment. He slowly made his way over to Petra and gave her a hug. “Congrats on the baby,” he said, straightening his back and standing straight again. Petra chuckled out her reply of “thank you”.

The man stood in front of us; scrutinizing with his cold glare. My eyes traveled down his muscular body and landed on the thing I was not supposed to look at. His arm. His _missing_ arm.

“Fascinated, are we? Do you want to know _how_ I lost my arm? Hm? Why don’t you stare longer and find out for yourself!” I gulped. Levi’s body tensed and I heard a small growl come from his throat. “Oh and what are you going to do about it, little man? You can’t even stand!”

“Do NOT threaten Eren,” Levi hissed, baring his teeth.

“Hm, you’re a feisty one, aren’t you!”

“Erwin, that’s enough!” Petra interjected by tugging on his shoulder.

He simply chuckled and turned around, walking away. “Follow,” he stated.

We walked slowly behind Petra who was following him. I could feel Armin practically on top of me from behind. He stepped on my boots a couple times and apologized with a faint “sorry”.

This Erwin fellow was pretty scarred up. He had large, crisscross shaped welts along his whole body. His lower half, covering his buttocks completely in fur, matched his long blonde hair which was tied back with braids and revealed the shaven portions along the sides. His feet were huge paws and his tail consisted of the same fur and had darker brown hairs sprouting from the tip. He took a seat on his “throne” and looked us over.

“You want to find a cure,” he chuckled out. “You have seriously wasted your time searching for one. Trust me when I say, there is absolutely no cure to the black magic that was injected into your body.” His piercing blue eyes looked at each of us, landing on Levi. “You’re lucky you know that?”

“Oh yeah? How so?” Levi replied.

“You simply got the end result of hours upon hours of experimentation and torture that was done on people; human people! Look at me. What do you see? Someone who has been tested on so many times that losing a limb is the result. But I was not the only one. Hundreds of people have been tested on for years until this… witchcraft was perfected.” He cleared his throat and continued. “They took people, they took wildlife, sewn us together like some puppet ready to get played by their hands. And through years of evolution, the batches of magic has changed. Most of those people you saw out there are mutts; mixtures of who the hell knows what, just like you.”

Armin’s shakily stepped out from behind me. “So what you’re saying is these… witches took hostages, experimented on them by any means necessary, then set them loose to run rampant?”

“No. We only escaped because we began to fight back. I’m not going through my whole history lesson with you guys but I want you to understand that we had to fight our way away from these horrible beings. We were able to defeat a majority of the witches just by force alone. That’s where I got this prize.” Erwin jingled his staff and the small head, with sewn up eyes and mouth swayed from side to side.  “She was the one who took my arm and conjoined me with a giant, wild beast.”

There was a pause of silence before Armin spoke again. “So how did you become a leader of all of this?”

“Someone had to. Someone had to be there to guide these lost souls. And with the help of a few friends, we were able to do just that.” Erwin sighed. “Now there is only a handful of us original “spliced” who remain.” He slowly stood up and walked towards the right of his chair. “Follow me, I’d like to show you something.”

We followed behind him into a smaller room with what looked to be an office of sorts. He walked over to a small table and pulled on the brass knob, forcing the drawer open. He reached inside and pulled out what looked to be a necklace of sorts. “This is what remains of my horrific past. These two arrow heads are what I was able to steal before our attack against the witches. They might be the only option for finding a cure.”

“That’s great, but isn’t that how Levi changed in the first place?”

“Yes. This is what he was most likely shot with. But maybe you can reverse it with a combination of this and some form of magic. But I am uncertain.” He draped the necklace around Levi’s neck. “Here, I want you to have it. It just serves as a horrible reminder for me.”

“Are you sure?” Levi looked down at the arrow heads.

“Positive. And for the blonde one, I want to give you this.” Erwin walked to the large bookshelf that housed many worn books. Flipping through each spine, he pulled out a thin, leather bound journal and handed it to Armin. “This is my story in case you want to read it.”   

“But I couldn’t possibly take something so personal!”

“Don’t worry about it. I can always write another. Besides, it’ll always be stuck in my head if I ever want to write it down again.” Erwin smiled. “Now get out, I have some business I need to take care of.”

“Thank you, Erwin” Armin bowed down, book grasped tightly in his arms. “We will do our best to find a cure.” I bowed as well, showing my appreciation.

Erwin chuckled and took a seat behind his small desk. “Good luck.”

“Thank you again.”

X

Once outside, we got on our horses once again and decided to split from Petra and Auruo.

“Thank you so much for everything Petra,” I said with a nod in her direction. “We will meet again sometime, right?”

“Eren, I’m not going anywhere! You know where to find us!”

We said our goodbyes and decided to explore the community for a bit before heading out. A few hours were spent browsing the stands and vendors, looking for some different foods to try. Needless to say they were all delicious even though they were very foreign to us. Well, at least Armin and I; Levi was used to semi-cooked foods. The locals say it’s cooked just enough to not get sick so, why the hell not? We managed to bump into Marco yet again, only this time he was with his significant, much shorter other.

“Guys, I want you to meet Jean! Jean, this is Eren, Armin and…”

“Levi.”

“Levi!”

This Jean fellow was not a centaur, but his lower legs were very horse like. His tail was also just like Marco’s too.

“Nice to meet you, I guess.”

“Jean, be nice! They’ve traveled a long way to come here.”

“Hmp.”The Jean fellow crossed his arms like a giant child. “What’re you looking at?” _Was he talking to me_?

“Nothing, I was just thinking.”

“About what!?”

“Uh…”

“Jean, knock it off,” Marco bumped Jeans side. “I’m sorry, he’s not really like this, I swear.”

“It’s alright.”

Jean was staring at Levi now. “You look awfully familiar.”

“We’ve never met, sorry.”

“Hm… maybe it’s a coincidence but you look like someone I grew up with at the orphanage. Ah well, it’s whatever.”

“Orphanage?”

“Yeah, my parents had died when I was young so I was forced into the orphanage. I don’t know, you just look like a guy that used to live there.”

“Do I.”

“Yeah. Ah well, my memory is kinda shot after I changed, can’t say I remember the kids name anyway.”

We soon fell to silence.

Marco began showing us around the different parts of the “creature” territory. They had farmland and raised cattle, very similar to what the human race did. He also reiterated that most people are naturally born where as a select few, such as himself, were transformed. No, he was spliced alongside Erwin and the others. But his experiments were done later when the witchcraft was more perfected and less gruesome and deadly.

“Ah, would you look at the time!” Marco looked up at the setting sun. “It’s time to settle down for the night, what do you say Jean?”

Jean was riding Marco just as if he was a normal horse. “I think so.”

“Hey, did you guys have anywhere to stay the night?”

I looked at Armin who shook his head. “No, we do not.”

“Would you guys like to stay the night?”

“HAH!?”

“Relax, Jean it’s just for one night. Besides, they said they’re leaving in the morning so what’s the issue?” Jean mumbled something under his breath. “I take that as a ‘ _no there is no issue here’,_ ” Marco chuckled.

“Great! Thank you so much!”

“Hey, no problem! Like I said, I like meeting new people!”

We trotted back to Marco and Jean’s “house”. It was a small building that consisted of only four stables. Nothing else.

“Sorry for the lack of bedding, but we use the hay as our beds. Well, at least I do. Jean just sleeps on me.” We tethered our horses in their own stalls, fed and watered them and walked over to the last remaining stable. After padding the hay lining enough to sleep on, I laid a very drowsy Levi down onto the hay and sat next to him. Armin took a seat in the corner with a dim-lit lantern and Erwin’s journal.

“Don’t be up all night reading that, we have a long day tomorrow.”

“I know, I’ll only read couple pages, I promise.”

“Alright.” I watched Marco, from my position, walk in a few circles before plopping down onto the padding. Jean then lay against Marcos stomach, getting comfortable.

“Night guys,” Marco whispered from his stall.

“Goodnight!” Armin whispered as well.

I looked down at Levi, whose eyes were already shut. I lay down next to him, wrapping my arms around his thin waist, bringing him closer to me. “Goodnight,” I barely whispered in his ear before planting a kiss on his temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So should the next chapter be Erwins past? Or should I continue with the story? Let me know in the Comments~!!


	12. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's awful? I'm awful. I sorry for horribly late updates. I hope you enjoy!

The morning sun shining through the cracks in the stables was what woke me up. I hadn’t realized how cold I was until I uncurled my body and stretched every which way possible. I yawned, not wanting to open my eyes just yet, and patted the surrounding area for my only source of heat. Levi.

Levi? _Where is that fur ball_? I patted the hay a few more times before grunting and opening my eyes.

I sat up and scanned the stable. I was alone. Levi was gone. Armin was gone. I was confused. _Where could they be this early_?

I heard faint voices from the stable across from ours. From what I could tell it was Jean and… Levi? I slowly got up and made my way over to the stable and looked over the wooden door.

“Morning, sunshine,” Levi calmly stated. “You might want to rid yourself of all that straw in your head.”

I shook my head and ran my hands through my hair, pulling out some of the longer pieces of hay. “Why are you up so early? And where’s Armin?”

“First off, you slept in. Second, he’s with Marco in the market.”

“Oh,” was all I could say, opening the door and taking a seat next to Levi. “So, what’re we talking about,” I spoke through another yawn.

“Well, before you arrived, we were talking about old man Pixis and the wife,” Jean stated.

“And how my life sucked prior to meeting you,” Levi said.

“Hmhm, I’ll take that as a compliment.” I made myself comfortable against Levi. “So Jean, how long have you known Marco?”

“Eh… too long. That old man has been in my life for like… ever”

“How’d you meet anyway?”

“He found me actually. I ran away from the village and he found me at a young age; maybe 10-11; took care of me for most of my life. Brought me here, fed me, cared for me and wham-o, I fell for that freckle and-”

“Wait, how did you change,” I interrupted.

“He was against it, I wasn’t, saw Erwin and wow look at me now. So what about you guys?”

 _Well that explains a lot_.

“I kidnapped his unconscious body and chained him to a wall, forced him to take a bath then we cuddled. Lots of cuddling.”

“Harsh.”

“I know,” Levi smirked.

I playfully elbowed Levi’s side just below his permanent scar.

Awkward silence fell between the three of us. Jean had gotten up to grab some tools and started to file the sides of his hooves. He picked the dirt out from his curved, metal shoes; making sure they were spotless. It was all very interesting to watch considering this was a routine I did to my own horse.

The front door to the stables had rattled and swung open. I got up to see who it was only to see Armin riding on Marco’s back with bags full of stuff.

“Where have you been?”

“Oh, Marco took me into town. Man Eren you should see all the neat things they had there! Look!” Armin began to dig through one of the bags. He pulled out a tiny wood carving of something. “Here,” he slid off Marco and handed it to me. “I bought it to put on my bookshelf when we get back, isn’t it neat?”

Neat it was. It was an anatomically correct figure of a horse.

“I helped him pick it out,” Marco chuckled from next to him.

“I couldn’t decide there was so much to choose from. Here, I got you this.” He began to dig through the bag again.

“You didn’t have to get me any-!” Something large and soft was thrown at my face. Good thing I caught it before it landed in the hay. “What is it?”

“Open it up!” I unfolded it and held it up. It’s a sweater. A really soft sweater, black in color just like Levi’s fur. It’s a warm sweater too. “I got it because you always complain about how cold you are.”

“Thanks Armin. What’s it made of?”

“Fur,” he replied, digging through another bag.

“What kind of fur-Marco, how do they make these?”

“People like to donate their fur for a little extra income. It’s no big deal, it’ll grow back don’t worry. It’s just like a haircut. Oh and it’s cleaned and treated as well!”

“Okay, as long as someone wasn’t murdered for this,” I chuckled.

“And Levi, this is for you.” Armin held out a folded up piece of material. “Don’t get up, it’s a cloak for when you come back to the village. To play it safe, you know?”

Levi nodded and thanked Armin from his position on the ground.

“The rest of the bag is different foods for the road.”

“You have to try the crickets, they are delicious!” Marco leaned over the stall to kiss Jean on the head. “Right my angel?”

Jeans face turned a bright shade of red. “….right.”

“What’s on today’s agenda for you, babe?” Marco continued.

“Nothing. Maybe lay around or something.” Jean stood up and exited the stall.

“Hmhm okay.”

After packing our things and prepping the horses, I helped Levi onto mine and we said our very appreciative thank you.

“Oh before you leave,” Marco interrupted and trotted to one of the closets, pulling out something red. “Here, I knit these whenever I’m bored. If we don’t meet again, I want you to remember us by this.”

He handed the red material to me and I unfolded it. It’s a scarf. It’s a bit too warm to wear now but it’ll definitely get used at night.

“Thanks, Marco.”

“Anytime. Be safe okay? And good luck, Levi.”

“Thanks,” was all he replied.

I put the scarf into one of the side pockets of my saddle and climbed on. With one final goodbye, we made our way towards the front gates and asked to leave. Once the gates shut behind us, we were faced with nothing but woods and that magic barrier we had to pass through.

The journey home will be a long one. Hopefully we’ll make it home just fine.

X

We rode for quite some time before the sun began to set. We had to build a fire and make camp somewhere soon. At least that’s what I was focusing on. Others seem to have something else on their mind.

“-they locked him in a cage like some animal! They poked and prodded and-“

“Armin.”

“-he literally was placed next to the beast they were testing on and-“

“Armin!”

“The first experiment didn’t go to well and he wound up losing his arm and-“

“ARMIN!”

“What?”

“We need to find a place to make camp, it’s late and it’s dark.”

“Oh sorry. I’m just really intrigued by Erwin’s events, you know?”

“Yes I understand, but for now, let’s worry about a place to sleep and some food.”

“Alright.”

We found a “comfortable” spot near a large tree. We tied the horses around surrounding trees and began to make camp.

“Levi, relax.”

“I want to help.”

“But your ankle-“

“Is fine, see? I’m just gathering firewood anyway.”

“I know, I just… don’t want you to get hurt is all.”

“Hmhm, love you too.”

Levi set out to make the fire while Armin and I attempted to make comfortable bedding for us to lay on. Leaves will have to do. I took out my sweater and put it on. Yup, nice, warm and cozy, perfect for this cold air. It feels almost like Levi’s fur, but a tad less silky. But who am I to complain, really. I glance at Levi, who stands proud in front of his fire. Who would have ever thought I’d get myself into this crazy mess. I love it who am I kidding.

As I sat against one of the large roots sprouting from the tree, I watched as Levi began to walk towards me.

“Where’d coconut head go?”

“Armin? He had to use the bathroom. Why?”

“It’s quiet for once.”

“It is,” I smiled. He looked at me for a bit longer, than up at the tree. He rested one hand onto it, like he was examining the bark or something. Then the claws sunk in. Followed by the other hand. Maybe he needs something to scratch or something.

But then he did the stupidest thing he could have ever done. He climbed. And continued to climb.

I immediately jumped up and looked up at Levi. “ARE YOU MAD!? YOU’RE GOING TO HURT YOURSELF! GET DOWN RIGHT NOW”

“Hey Eren, you like what you see?” He was shaking his ass while attached to the damn tree. Terrific.

“Please just come down, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m not going to get hurt, relax.” He climbed out onto one of the branches and looked around. “I can see the dim-lit flames coming from the village. But they’re far. Maybe another day or two.”

“Okay, that’s great now come down, please!”

“Okay, okay.” He began to crawl back towards the tree but then stopped. “Hey, wanna see something cool?”

“No, I wanna see you alive.”

With one swift motion, Levi manages to curl his tail around the branch and hung himself upside down. I swear my heart was about to explode with all the panic that was running through it.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

“No!”

“No fun~,” he chuckled.

“Hey Eren, what are you- oh hey Levi! What are you doing up there?”

“Scaring the shit out of Eren,” he chuckled.

“You doing a good job at it too!”

Levi flipped his body over and climbed back onto the branch. He made his way back down and immediately suffocated me with a hug. I was beyond furious with him, but how could I stay mad? Really?

“You worry too much, kid.” I didn’t reply. “Come on, let’s grab something to eat then head to bed, okay?”

“Yeah.” I still wanted to slap Levi for pulling a stunt like that. But I let it slide.

Funky-whatever-animal jerky and some kind of corn in a bag was tonight’s dinner. It wasn’t too bad I guess. It’s definitely not mom’s cooking. Oh how I’ve missed that cooking.

The fire was at a dim burn as we made ourselves comfy on our leaf bedding and called it a night. It took some time finding a comfy position before Levi curled up next to me. If I had to compare comfortable flooring, I’d say the shacks floors puts the leaves to shame on the comfort scale.

A few minutes into our sleep, Levi started to shiver. That’s how cold it was. The hairy creature was shivering. Well he did mention before that he’s always cold at night but, we’re not in our cozy little shack. We’re in the great outdoors. The open. The freezing cold woods.

“Levi?”

“Hm?”

“We can share if you’d like.”

“Share what?” He whispered.

“The sweater.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, you’re cold and both me and Armin have something warm for us, you don’t. Besides, it’s extra big on me so there’s plenty of room.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

Levi turns around to face me and snakes his way through the sweater. His arms wrap around my waist to hug me. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

With that, Levi gave me a chaste kiss and nuzzled into my chest.

X

“Rise and shine! It’s a beautiful morning and we have some traveling to do!”

Armin. Why. Are. You. Up. So. Early?

With a groan, I stretched what aching limbs as best as I could. My neck was still very sore from the way I slept last night. Thick roots do not make comfy pillows.

I sat up and looked at Armin who was all ready to go.

“How did you sleep?” Armin sat down next to me on the ground.

“Fine I guess. My neck hurts the most actually but other than that I’m fine. You?”

“Eh, same. Only it’s my lower back that’s doing the aching. But I’ll live.”

I chuckled and rolled my neck, attempting to work out the knot that found its home there. I stood up, yawned, and shed myself of that fluffy sweater Armin bought me. It’s already getting warmer out and I don’t need something this heavy once the sun breaks through the treetops. Which would be soon.

We finished packing our things and prepare our horses for today’s journey.

“You think we’ll make it by sun down?”

“I don’t know, if we move at a fast pace then it’s a possibility,” Armin replied.

“Hey, where’s Levi, by the way?”

“Last time I checked he had to you the men’s room. He should be back soon.”

“Alright.”

We waited. And waited. And waited some more. _Where is he_?

“When did he say he had to pee?”

“Right before you woke up, why.”

“I’m looking for him,” I stated, swinging my legs over my horse and taking off to find him.

“Eren wait!” I heard Armin gallop next to me.

“Which way did he go?”

“Eren, relax-”

“Why would he leave anyway!?”

“He had-Eren, calm down!”

“Levi! LEVI!?”

“Eren, over there!”

I look to my right and what do you know, Levi is sitting in a small open field.

“Levi! What’re-“

“Oh, hey Eren.”

“What are you doing? What are you hiding in your hand, mister?” His hands were clamped together, hiding something from my view.

“Nothing~”

“Uh-huh, sure. Get up, we’re leaving.” _Did I sound pissed enough? I don’t know, I think I did, good enough_. I heard him mumble something before climbing up on the horse, one hand still clamped with whatever. I’ll just act like I’m not interested.

We made it our goal to get back to the village before sundown and the only way to do that is move at a faster pace. We galloped through the heavily wooded area as fast as we could. Then, that familiar location came into view.

The lake.

Then the shack.

But the shack was still nothing but ash and rubble. The trees surrounding it had healed pretty nicely and it looks like some vegetation had claimed the remains as their home. Good. Because the last memory of the shack had not been a good one. I’d personally like to avoid it and I made that known. Armin agrees. Levi agrees. So we let our horses drink and hurry past the place I called “home” with Levi.

X

By the time the sun had set, we had finally made it to the large gates of the village. Immediately, we threw the long cloak over Levi and placed the hood over his head. “It’s for your own protection,” I reassure him. We sneak into the village and head for the stables. Locking the stable doors, we collected our belongings and made our way to the only place I could think of. My house.

Mom and Mikasa should be in bed by now. But that also means Dr. Zoe wasn’t around either at this time of night. So my house it is.

“We have to stay quiet,” I whisper as I go to open the door.

It creaks and squeaks and crunches like it always does. Stupid door. I’m the first to enter when I hear-

_CLICK!_

There is an arrow pointed directly at the center of my forehead. I follow the point down the shaft of the crossbow, to the person holding it.

“Mikasa?”

“Eren?” She immediately drops her weapon and pulls me into a tight hug. She cups my face and her eyes begin to water. “Where have you been? What have you been doing? Who’s that.” Her tone is evens out. Her eyes focus in on the hooded Levi, about to cause a murder scene.

“That’s Armin,” I say nervously, trying to make light of the situation. Armin waves.

“Not Armin… him.” She points directly at Levi.

“Ah, he’s just a friend, you know, one of my friends that you don’t know and-” she pushed past me but I caught her in time. “Mikasa, let me explain. Please.”

She huffs and fold her arms. “I’m listening.”

“He’s a friend who has nowhere to stay. He needs to see the doctor and then he’ll be out of here. Right?” Levi nods. “See?”

“Take the hood off.”

“What?” I said.

“Take the hood off. Or do I have to force it off?”

“Mikasa, there’s no need for threats,” Armin adds. “He’s a really nice guy, I promise!”

“Hm.”

This situation was getting weirder and weirder. Nobody moved. Nobody dared to move.

“Mikasa, who are you yelling at it’s- Eren?” Mom was hallway down the stairs, candle in hand when she realized who it was. “Eren? You’re… home?” I smiled at her. She hurried over to me, placed her candle and hugged me all while simultaneously kissing my forehead. “My baby boy is back. And Armin! I’ve missed you guys so much.” She let go of me and hugged Armin. “And I see we have a guest. Eren, who is this?”

“Can we just sit down and I’ll explain it all?”

“Sure thing, Eren.” Mom kissed me one last time on the cheek before going to start a fire under the mantle.

Armin shut the noisy door and I placed my bag of stuff next to the loveseat, gesturing for Levi to follow. We made our selves comfy on the couch and waited for everyone else to be seated. Mikasa and mom took the other two individual seats and Armin sat on the floor. My stomach hurt. I was nervous. What do I say? How do I start? What do I-

“Well, it looks like I’ll start.” I looked over at Levi who still had his hood up. “My name is Levi. Eren is my friend. A close friend at that.”

I looked at Mikasa whose arms were crossed with a giant displeased look on her face. Mom just sat there waiting, watching.

“Let me see your face,” Mikasa said bluntly.

“Ah, well that’s why I’m wearing this. Your kind aren’t too friendly to well… my kind.”

“I do not care. Let me see.”

“I’m telling you-”

“NOW!”

“Mikasa! Relax!” I butted in. “He’s clearly uncomfortable with the situation as is, no need to make it worse!”

“What’s possibly wrong with him? What is ‘his kind’ anyway!? Take the damn hood off already and I’ll be the judge.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll take it off.” My head snapped immediately to look at Levi. I watched as he lifted his arms, letting the extra-long sleeves fall from his hands, and raised them to the hood. The room was silent. No one dared make a noise as Levi slowly pulled down his hood. He looked up once it was completely down and replaced his hands onto his lap. Mom gasped and Mikasa immediately grabbed her crossbow and pointed it at Levi. I jumped up and shielded Levi from her aim.

“Mikasa! Are you crazy? Put that down!”

“Eren, he’s a monster! A freak!”

“Doesn’t mean you have to shoot him!”

“Eren?” Mom called my name in her usual soft tone. “Is this who you were with the whole time? All those months?”

The questions caught me off guard and my arms slightly dropped. “Y-yes, actually.”

She giggled. “Well… I think he’s kinda cute, hm?” My ears turned red. “Mikasa, put the bow down.”

“Mom-“

“Now.” She lowered the bow and glared at Levi. He simply patted the seat for me to sit back down. “So tell me Levi, what exactly are you?”

“Well… I’m a human. At least I was. Now I don’t know. But your people fear my kind. Call us monsters and creatures and this and that. But not all of us are like that. I am no monster.”

“So there are more of you?”

“Well… yes.”

“Fascinating. How old are you exactly?”

Levi looked at me with a questionable look. I smiled, reassuring him that it’ll be alright. He made eye contact with mom again. “453.”

Mikasa’s jaw dropped. Mom just smiled, “you’re an old man, aren’t you?” She continued her game of twenty questions.

“So why are you here?”

Levi explained how Dr. Zoe was his old best friend and he wanted her help to see if she could turn him back to normal. Though the chances are slim, there is a slight chance that something could possibly work.

Armin had retreated to his room for the night followed by Mikasa who did bother saying goodnight.

Mom began to yawn. “I guess we can finish our conversation in the morning. Goodnight boys, try and get some rest.”

“Will do.”

She kissed me goodnight and headed upstairs leaving me, Levi and the warm fire.

“Did you want to go to bed? I mean I share a room with Armin and the beds only a twin so I’ll sleep on the couch if-”

“No, the couch if fine.” He stood up and stretched his limbs, shedding the cloak and placing it on the other chair. He grabbed something out of the pocket and sat back down next to me. “Besides, it’s be better if you shared it with me,” he smiled.

“You’re such a sap,” I teased, resting my head on his shoulder. He chuckled.

I snaked my hand to his clutched one and tried prying it open. “What is it?”

He slowly opened his hand and revealed… a rock.

“All that for a rock?”

“It’s not just a rock. Flip it over.”

I grabbed the rock and did as he told me. The whole underside was crystal. A shiny, mint green crystal.

“It reminded me off you,” he said as I continued to twirl the rock.

“It’s beautiful.”

“It’s yours. I was going to… nevermind.”

“Going to what?”

“… I wanted to turn it into something special, you know? Like a ring or something.”

“Are you saying you’d like to be with me forever?” I teased.

“If possible then yes.” My cheeks burned red again.

I nuzzled his shoulder. “I’d like that too.”

He smiled. “Come on, let’s get comfy. I feel it’s going to be a long night.”

I placed the crystal on one of the tables and laid down on top of Levi who had already made himself comfortable. Laying my chest against his, I kissed his jawline a couple times before resting my head in the crook of his neck.

“Goodnight.”

“Who said the night was over just yet?” He lifted my head and placed a small peck to my lips. “It just begun,” he chuckled and kissed me a few more times.

“Hmhm if you say so,” I kissed back, deepening the kiss.

This was turning out to be one of the best nights I’ve ever had with Levi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut chapter. Next chapter. It's a promise that I WILL NOT break! Thank you for reading and sticking around!


	13. Smut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do i win any awards for "attempted smut"? Because i tried, i've never done this before and im sorry. ENJOY!

This positions was comfortable. Laying on top of Levi, stealing kisses from each other, his legs on either side of my body. It felt good. The feeling of being held; of the furry fingers lightly brushing against my scalp. He’d suck on my jawline a few times before moving back to my mouth, using little force from his teeth to tug my bottom lip. He wanted access. He wanted to slide his long, dark tongue into my mouth and explore each and every crevice. Access granted. Tongues clashed with each other, trading off our own brand of saliva onto the others muscle. It felt good. His tongue twisted and curled around my own in a battle for dominance. I let him win when I pulled away for air, leaving behind a trail of spit.

Levi chuckled.

I shut him up by kissing him again, slowly making my way down to his collarbone. They made for an easy bite due to how protruded they are. I made sure to leave a mark.

I felt a soft hand slide down to the hem of my shirt. His palm glided up towards my shoulders; shirt catching in the process, rendering my lower back exposed.

I watched as both hands traveled under the wrinkles of my shirt to rest on each pectoral muscle, giving them a light squeeze.

“You know, there’s nothing really there,” I stated.

“I know,” he replied with a chuckle before brushing his thumbs over my nipples.

I couldn’t help but gasp at the sensation. It felt _really_ good. He chuckled and brushed them again.

“You like?”

“Yes,” I replied as he took each bud and pinched them with his thumb and forefinger. “Oh my- damn!”

“Hmhm.” He massaged my chest a bit more before tugging the shirt upwards. I allowed him to peel the rest of it off and toss it to the ground. Good. It was getting too hot for that anyway.

Slowly, he shifted our bodies so that I was now laying on the couch and he was over me. I could feel his dick brush against my thigh in the process.

He made sure to press kisses on my mouth and began to trail downward towards my chest.

“You smell good,” he said before licking one of my nipples.

I was a bit confused by his statement and I would have said so, but he kept alternating back and forth between each nub; enough for me to choke on my answer. He did not hesitate to take one long suck into each nipple, sending that strong “feel good” sensation throughout my body.

After a few more licks and nips, he slowly trailed kisses down to my stomach and past my naval. I didn’t expect him to do what he did next. There he was, between my fully clothed legs, shoving his face into my erect crotch. I heard him take a long inhale before lifting his head and opening his eyes to look at me. His pupils were as thin as a hair; he looked absolutely feral. I couldn’t help but blush.

“You smell _really_ good,” he stated.

“I don’t quite understand-”

“I want you.” _Now I understand_. “You’re emitting such high pheromone levels, it’s hypnotizing.”

“I-I don’t smell anything.”

“You’re not going to,” he purred, resting his hands on my hips just above the waistband. “May I?” he asked with a small tug.

“I- uh…,” I paused. _Was I really ready for this? To go all the way? I’ve never been this intimate with someone before so I’m kind of nervous_.

I looked at Levi who was waiting for answer. Damn this eyes and those dark markings surrounding them.

“I-I don’t think I’m ready to go… you know.”

He sat back and his pupils went back to normal. _Damn him_. “Eren, if you’re uncomfortable, we can stop. I don’t want you to feel-”

“No it’s not that… it’s just, I’ve never gone ‘all the way’ with someone before, you know?”

“Eren, its fine, just tell me and I’ll stop.”

“No, I’d like to continue… but not… like that. I’m not ready for… that.”

“Penetrative?”

I nodded. He smiled. “We don’t have to do that today if you’re not ready.”

“Thank you.”

There was an awkward pause.

“…So how do we want to do this…? You tell me.”

My eyes stared into his silver orbs, not knowing what to say. They slowly began to travel down his thin, boney body, taking in each and every curve and protrusion. Those hips stuck out on either side of his body and I want nothing more than to run my hands all over them, taking in their shape and size. My eyebrows furrowed when I finally looked down at his penis. It was standing tall and proud with his… deep purple tip?

“What?”

“…the tip’s purple.” _And a tad shiny from the pre-cum_.

“So it is,” he chuckled. “You would have found out a lot sooner but you always told me to cover up and refused to look at it… what a surprise.”

“I’m sorry…”

“I’m only teasing kid,” he leaned over to kiss me. “Now… where were we?”

We knew exactly where we were. He did not hesitate to massage my bulge through my pants. It was once again hot and all I wanted was for my pants to fly off.

“Levi~” He was sucking on my chest again, still massaging my dick. “Pants… off… please?”

“Pants off?” I nodded. He slipped his hands under the waistband and began to pull. I lifted my buttocks to make it easier for him to remove them. A kiss of cool air reached my cock as the hot material was removed. I was a mess down there. Pre-cum was dribbling out of my slit, just like Levi’s was before. He did not hesitate to run a clawed finger from my entrance to balls before taking them into his hand and fondled them. It felt so good. To be played with. And the slight tickling from his fur did not help. It was arousing.

His hand moved up to the base and slowly pulled upwards, snagging the extra skin along the way. I couldn’t help but gasp as he did it a few more times. It felt _too_ good. Each stroke had something new. He would add pressure, add a nail or two, palm the tip all while his fur began to matte from the wetness of it all.

I let out a moan as he pulled away from my dick. I looked up to see him spreading my thighs and throwing one leg over his shoulder; the other off the couch. He dipped his head and shoved his nose right next to my balls, inhaling my scent once again.

Levi stuck out his pointy tongue and began to lick from my balls all the way up to my tip. He teased and tortured me with that tongue, shoving it under my foreskin, swirling it around before lightly pulling it with his teeth. He lapped at the tip, wiggling his purple tongue in and over the slit.

His lips slowly moved down over my cock, easing it deeper and deeper into his mouth before pulling back a little bit just to do it again.

“Ha~ Levi?”

“Hm?” His response sent shivers through my body. The sensation was something I’ve never experienced before.

“Ah~ do that again!”

He continued to lightly hum as he bobbed his head up and down my shaft. My hand snaked its way and entangled itself in Levi’s hair.

“Levi, I-I’m close!”

He continued to bob his head, raking his teeth against my skin.

“Levi~ please! I don’t wanna-“

“Come for me,” he said before replacing his mouth back in rhythm.

“Not… inside you!” He wouldn’t listen. “Levi-ah~!”

I choked a cry as I let go inside of Levi’s mouth. He did not remove his lips until I had finished spilling myself all over his mouth. It took a while for my breathing to control itself again. I watched as Levi lifted his head with messy lips and smiled as he swallowed my load, licking up all the extra that had spilled out.

“You taste delicious~”

I would have been disgusted, but my brain was too fuzzy at the moment to even think straight.

He leaned back against the couch and watched as I calmed myself down. All he did was smile. What an ass.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You know… that?”

“Suck you?” I nodded. “Because I wanted too and since you aren’t ready for the other things, this was the second best option.”

“I didn’t want to finish inside you though.”

“It’s fine, Eren. Really.” I looked away from those damn eyes of his. I felt him shift to lean over me again. I felt him place his head next to mine and began to rub our heads together. “Do you remember what this means?”

I smiled. “That you want to be with me and you love me?”

“That’s right. And you know I would do anything for the one I love, even swallow his juice.”

I pulled my head away from his and looked at him. His face housed that stupid grin of his so I shoved my hand into his face. He chuckled and leaned back.

“I love you,” he said.

“I know you do,” I chuckled back. “So what about you?”

“What about me?” I pointed downward. “Oh, it’ll go away, don’t worry about it.”

“No, you pleased me now I want to please you. Lay down.”

“Eren I-”

“Down.”

Levi spread his body across the couch as I climbed over and lay down next to him. I took his dick into my hand and slowly began to jerk him off. I wasn’t going to do anything like what Levi did and frankly, it was because I was too nervous to try anything of sorts, so I kept my attention on stroking his cock as best I could. Slow and steady.

I felt Levi relax into our position. I looked up to see his eyes closed and his head back. It obviously felt good so I kept doing what I was doing.

It was silent for a while before I heard Levi’s breathing become heavier.

“Levi?”

“Hm?”

“How does it feel?”

“…feels good,” he said letting out a heavy breath.

“Good.” I twisted my hand around his shaft a few times and I noticed his toes curling. He must be close.

Without warning, I felt his body shutter and arch, followed by his white liquid spilling all over my hand.

I heard him chuckle. “Sorry, should’ve warned you.”

“It’s alright,” I said. “Besides,” I brought my hand up to my mouth, “I’ve always wanted to try this.” I stuck my tongue out a licked my fingertips free of cum.

My face instantly twisted.

“What,” Levi snickered.

“Not… good…”

“Sorry my brand isn’t berry flavor,” Levi brought me up for a hug. “Go wash your hand, kid.”

“You do the same, idiot.” I quickly got off of him and ran to the kitchen. I heard him chasing after me.

“Get back here, brat.”

“No!” I turned on the sink and began to wash my hands. He bumped me with his hip to move me out of the way. It turned into a hip war followed by a splash fight. “Quit it, you’ll wake up the family~”

“You’re the one who’s being loud!”

“Okay, okay I’ll stop.” With one final fling of water, I ran out of the kitchen and was tackled onto the couch once again. I was trying to keep my laughter in as best I could.

“You’re such a brat.”

“I love you, too.” I leaned up to kiss him and we fell into our natural rhythm with each other.

I wish every night could end just like this one had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :')   
> (sorry for any mistakes/ errors)


	14. Doctor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no update right? Heh heh. I'm sorry for the lack of updates...again  
> im adding the tag "tw needles" because I know some people may not like needles and or are triggered by them. It is only mild but its precaution  
> thank you for sticking around and please enjoy!

“Eren.”

_What? Who’s calling my name?_

“Brat, wake up!”

There was a continuous light taping of something furry against my face.

“What,” I groaned. “Five more minutes.”

“Fine, but please get off of me first, I need to piss!” The tapping continued and I opened my eyes to find out that it was Levi’s tail hitting my face. “I’m going to roll you off this couch if you don’t get off of me.”

I looked down between my legs to find Levi’s stare looking back at me. He was laying on his stomach, neck craned as far as it could go. “Sorry,” I slowly swung my legs over and off of Levi and stood up. I watched as he peeled himself off of the couch and stretched his back.

“You’re heavier than I thought,” he stated. “Anyway, where’s the backyard, I need to drain myself.”

“We don’t have a backyard, use the toilet.”

“Where’s that?”

“Over there,” I pointed towards the door next to the stairs.

“Okay. I suggest you get dressed, baby butt, we have people to see today.”

My face turned bright red. _Baby butt_?

By the time I went to reply, the door to the bathroom had already shut. _He’s so strange_.  

I grabbed my clothes and put them on, not caring how smelly they are. Well, I’ll shower when Levi gets outs. _Unless… he wants to join_.

“What’re you smiling about?”

“Oh! I- uh. I need to shower. Want to join?”

“Hm… that doesn’t sound half bad actually. I can finally get the smell of stink off me.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“Sure, why not,” he grinned.

I immediately pushed him back into the bathroom and locked the door. I turned on the water and let it warm up while I undressed again. Levi’s eyes never once left my body as I peeled each garment off. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the shower. The water was a perfect temperature, not too hot, not too cold. I watched as the water saturated his hair, forcing it down in front of his face, doing the same to my hair as well. I chuckled as I pushed aside some of the hair to see his face again. He just smiled in return.

I reached past his head to grab the shampoo, squirting just enough in my hand for the both of us. I dabbed some onto my head and the rest onto his, massaging and scraping his scalp to get any of the dirt and buildup out of there. He lifted his hands and did the same for me, only the feeling of his claws against my scalp was enough to send shivers down my spine.

The water pooling at our feet had a slight tinge of brown to it. It was probably dirt buildup from his fur.

I played with his hair and made it stick up every which way possible. He removed his hands and showed me the amount of soap suds had formed on his hands. He gently wiped the suds along my face, giving me a white, soapy beard.

“Dork,” I said, gathering some suds, wiping it all along his nose and chin.

He blew out the foam from his mouth and grinned. “You’re the dork,” he said, rinsing off his hands.

Next was body wash. I lathered a bunch of soap in my hands before scrubbing some all over Levi’s chest. I rubbed circles up and down his arms, making sure to clean his armpits well. My hands stilled when I felt the large, bumpy ridge that ran across his ribcage. I couldn’t help but frown, remembering the time Levi protected me from Nile. He was so hurt and in pain when we found him.

I’m glad he’s still here; alive and breathing.

“Hey, cheer up,” he said, holding my chin forcing me to look in his eyes. “It’s only a scratch.”

“No, it’s not. It’s-”

“Hey, look at this mark you gave me last night,” he pointed to his collar bone which had perfect, purple teeth marks. “I think it’s time to return the favor.”

He leaned into my right side and began to suck on my neck.

“Hey, don’t change the subject, Levi.”

“I’m not,” he chuckled and sucked again. He would occasionally add his teeth to the mix which had me moaning louder than I wanted to. He soon had me cornered in the shower, continuing to suck on my neck, his warm body pressed flush against mine. I could feel his half-mast dick against my leg. I looked down and he grabbed my chin again. He placed and chaste kiss before stepping back and grabbing the soap.

“Come on, it’s your turn,” he said, squeezing a good amount of soap on his hands and started to scrub me down.

“Levi, you’re-”

“Come on, we have to visit the doctor today so let’s hurry up.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. _Damn you_.

We finished our shower by rinsing off and stepping out to grab a couple towels. I hand one to Levi who placed it on the floor before he bent down to shake all the water off of his body, hitting both me and the walls with stray water droplets.

“Really?”

“Sorry,” he said, grabbing the towel and finished drying off the normal way. I left the bathroom, only wrapped in a towel and headed upstairs to grab new clothing, leaving Levi downstairs.

Both mom and Mikasa’s door were shut so hopefully they’re still asleep. I twist the handle to my and Armin’s room and slowly push it open. I step inside and head directly to my closet.

“So Eren,” Armin stated, nose still deep in Erwin’s journal. “I heard some things last night...”

My face turned immediately red. “Yeah… what of it?”

“You really should learn to whisper. You always did have an issue with that.”

I grabbed my new clothing and started to dress. “Yeah well… you shouldn’t have been up that late!”

“I couldn’t sleep. Between this book and your moaning that is.”

“Oh my… you know what? No more adventure for you!”

“Hmhm fine Eren, but there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Its human nature to be intimate with another.”

I sighed. “Me and Levi are seeing Dr. Zoe today. Hopefully she’ll figure something out for him.”

“Me too, Eren.”

I left the room and closed the door slowly behind me before heading back downstairs to meet up with Levi.

“Ready to go?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be. C’mon.” Levi picked up his cloak and swung it around his shoulders before pulling the hood up.

It was mid-morning so hopefully most people would still be asleep. I made sure to bring the arrow heads Erwin gave us in case there was a possible cure.

We left the house and began our travel to Dr. Zoe’s office. She wasn’t far but I took the time showing Levi just how much the village has changed. There weren’t many people out so it was okay to take our time.

“They’ve built this place up, haven’t they.”

“Yeah, they have.”

“Hm, how the time flies.”

I looked at Levi who was scanning his surroundings. I pointed to some of my favorite local shops and told him he has to try the goods at Rose’s Bakery. They make the best homemade mixed berry pie.

“Hey, what are they doing with that tree?”

“Hm? Oh, they’re setting it up in the center of town.”

“Why?”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t know what?”

“About the Day of Giving?”

“No,” he looked back over at the men who were pulling the large pine tree up into place. “Must have been created after I left.”

“Yeah. Well anyway, the town celebrates the Day of Giving by decorating a giant tree. Each household also places a smaller tree into their house and place presents beneath them for their loved ones. We then celebrate by having a giant feast served by the local food and wine shops beneath the Giving tree. It’s a tradition that I’ve grown up with… but is still bittersweet to me.”

“And why’s that?”

“My father. But that’s a story for a whole other day. Come on, Dr. Zoe is waiting.

We make it to Dr. Zoe’s front door and enter.

“Hello, how can I help you?”

I heard the voice but could not find the source. “Dr. Zoe? It’s Eren.”

“Oh-!” There was a ‘thunk’ right below her desk followed by the doctor herself rubbing the back of her head. “Pesky mice always escaping.”

“Hanji, I see you’re the same exact idiot as you were before.”

“I know that voice… Levi?”

Levi pulled off his hood. “That’s my name.” I felt a gust of wind brush by me as I saw the doctor hug, lift and twirl Levi in the air. “PUT ME DOWN!”

“Levi, I haven’t seen you in forever! I’ve missed you so much!”

“That’s great, could you please put me down now? You’re squishing my lungs.”

Hanji placed Levi back down and snickered. “Oh, sorry. I forgot how small you are. Anyway, your auras are blowing up my radar. ‘Specially you Levi, I see pink and green and red and-”

“Can-it, four-eyes. Let’s cut to the chase. I need your help to turn me back to normal.”

“Okay I see, and how do you expect to do that?”

“I don’t know, pull some magic out of your ass or something.”

“Levi, that’s not exactly magic up there,” Hanji chuckled.

“Alright, enough you two. We talked to a friend and he said you might be able to find a cure with these.” I pulled off the necklace with the dark arrowheads on it. Hanji asked to look at them and I handed them to her.

“Follow me.”

She led us to one of the back rooms and told Levi to sit on the chair.

“Now I have never seen this before, but I’m assuming this is something dark and something similar to what hit Levi.”

“Correct.”

“Hm… Levi, let me take a blood sample, gimme your arm.”

Levi held out his arm as Hanji prepared for blood withdrawal. She stuck in the needle and filled up the syringe about half way. With one arrow in one hand and the blood sample in the other, she carefully let a few drops of his blood fall onto the piece of dark matter.

The arrow began to sizzle and bubble, slowly melting down the tip into a puddle on her lab tray.

“Interesting. It reacts like smooth tar once it’s in contact with blood. Which means whatever is imbedded into these arrowheads slowly takes over the bloodstream causing transformation. But,” she grabbed the tiny plastic tray and placed it under a strange tubular object and placed her eye over it. “If you look closely, you’ll see bacteria and other particles that play a key role in the persons mutation. In other words, I do not know if I’ll be able to counter act these bacteria but it’s worth a shot.”

“There has to be a way, Dr. Zoe.”

“Eren, I’ll try. But that’s all I can do.”

“…Okay.”

A few hours pass waiting for Hanji to finish with her experiments. She was almost out of the first arrowhead before she said she was ready for her test. There was a vial of what she called “anti-venom” that she would have to inject into Levi’s chest.

“Are you ready,” Hanji asked while readying the needle with the anti-venom. She flicked the tip of the needle, testing the flow of the thick liquid.

“Ready as I’ll ever be I guess.”

I sat in the corner of the room, watching as Hanji cleaned Levi’s chest where the original arrow entry would have been.

“This may sting.”

“I’ve been through worse,” he sighed. Hanji lowered the needle and stuck it into his skin on an angle. With a push of her thumb, the black liquid began to disappear into his blood stream, causing Levi to cringe and hiss.

“Shit!”

“It’s almost done,” Hanji stated, finishing off the vial and pulling the needle out. “There.”

 “It burns! What the hell!”

“Levi give it time, it has to run through your whole stream-”

“It fucking hurts!”

“Levi-”

His hands began to shake which causes his arms to shake. His face was difficult to look at; his teeth clenched and showing, drool spilling out of his mouth; his eyes screwed shut and toes curled. With a loud scream, his whole body began to thrash, claws swatting the air. Hanji jumped in and grabbed his wrists.

“Eren! Grab the restraints!”

“Wha-?”

“The rope, grab the rope!”

I got up and took the rope from shelf and tied his hands down to the arm rests.

“Ah!” My hand found the side of my leg as his tail kept hitting my thigh at record speed, leaving a nasty sting. I grabbed it; the tip still thrashing beneath my grip.

“Just hold on for a bit, okay?” Hanji grabbed a bottle of clear liquid and dumped some on her hand. With a few unfamiliar words, she wiped the liquid onto his forehead, causing him to calm down. “There you go.”

“What did you do?” I placed his tail onto his lap and watched his face become peaceful.

“Put his to sleep while the experiment takes hold.”

“Do-do you think it will work?” I grabbed a rag and wiped away all of his drool that dripped from his chin and onto his neck.

“… I don’t know.”

I looked at Hanji. I knew that’s all she could do and was I mad at her? Not at all. She could only do what she could do.

I sighed.

“Only time will tell, Eren.”

“When will you wake him up?”

“He’ll wake up on his own, it’s not a permanent spell.”

“Hm.”

“So Eren, I’m curious, what has your relationship with Levi been like?”

“I- uh… it’s been good.”

“I already knew that. Your aura spiked when reacting to Levi’s little thrashing. I’m glad your love for him is so high. I don’t remember his aura being so wacked and out of control prior to meeting you either.”

“Is that good?”

“Hell yeah it is. He’s happy. It never used to be like that. He was always blue and sad, depressed maybe every time I saw him. He’d act happy for me but his aura was the truth. I knew. I knew how he truly felt and that was loneliness.”

“…He said you grew up together, how’d you two meet?”

“At the orphanage,” she said all too cheery.

 “The orphanage? Levi was an orphan?”

“Mhm!”

 _He never told me that_. “I’m assuming he was put up for adoption? Did he have a good family atleast?”

“Well, mom dropped him off and dad was a no show. There’s a lot of family drama that I shouldn’t really be talking about. He actually never had a family. Like ever.”

“What? H-how?”

“He was kicked out at 18, forced to live on the streets. I tried to have him stay with us but my adoptive mother wasn’t… the nicest. The picture I gave you was actually from one of the last times I saw him. In human form that is.”

“And a witched attacked him…”

“Something like that. After I healed his wounds, he took off and never came back.”

I looked at Levi whose face was at rest.

Hanji placed a hand on my shoulder. “I would say you’re probably the closest thing he’s got for a family.”

That statement put butterflies in my stomach. It made me feel… special. Like I knew Levi would always be mine. And I would always be his.

“And not to be nosey~,” Hanji continued. “Have you guys gotten intimate yet?”

“I-uh-huh- what?”

“Hmhm I take that as a yes. I know a great product that makes things extra spicy in the sheets, if you know what I mean. Can only get it from out of town.”

My face was bright red. _This went from sad to embarrassing very quickly_.

“Eren, there’s nothing to be ashamed of! We all do it!”

“I-i-i-yeah. I know.”

“Hmhm here,” she handed me a jar filled with a clear jelly-like substance. “Apply this to those special areas and it will feel like a thousand tiny love bugs are tickling the goodies!”

“Thank…”

“No problem! If you run out, let me know~”

“A-alright.”

“And hey, I suggest you adopt if you want kids, okay?”

“I’m not really thinking about that at the moment, but thanks for the tip.”

Hanji just chuckled. “Oh! Would you look at the time. Hey Eren, can you watch over Levi? I have a house call in five minutes. It should only take an hour or so.”

“Yeah that’s fine.”

I watched as Hanji grabbed her things and packed up, locking the door behind her as she left. I place the jar onto the counter top and stood next to Levi. He had a shine to him causing his hair to stick to his face. I brushed his hair as I waited and watched.

“I hope this works, Levi. I really do.” But for some reason I still had my doubt. I had a gut feeling that whatever these witches did to him would be something permanent.

My eyes scanned the room and landed on the other arrowhead that was left on Hanji’s work space. That putrid thing is what did this to him. That awful dark magic is what caused him to be stuck in this prison of his. That thing… may be the solution.

 _What if_ …

 

 


	15. Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, i know it's been waaay too long and i apologize for not being able to update as much as i'd like to. I really do not have any excuse as to why i've been delaying this chapter so much. I think what it comes down to is i have very little time to myself anymore and it's starting to get difficult for me to keep up. As always i'll try my best to update more often! (we're almost there!) Thank you for sticking around and enjoying this monster! (pun intended)
> 
> On another note, i'd like to thank my friend shiro-levi-neko for drawing the very first piece of fanart for this fic! You can find it over here!   
> (How does one hyperlink?)  
> (http://shiro-levi-neko.tumblr.com/post/103667245894/eh-yea-not-exactly-what-i-had-in-mind-but-i )
> 
> I love it so much and it excites me to see any form of fanart! Thank you!!
> 
> What does Levi look like to you? Feel free to let me know, i love fanart ;)!

_What if_ …

My curiosity caused me to pick up the cursed arrow. I flipped it around in my hand, examining its features. With the tip of my finger, I placed it on the rather dull tip. No blood was drawn.

“This is what hit you, huh. Must have hurt quite a bit. ”

 _I wonder_ …

“You know, I wonder what mom would say if I told her I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” I searched the drawers for one specific tool. “She’d probably be upset that I’d leave the nest for good. That I’d rather spend it with a creature instead of a human. Well, technically you were human; still are maybe.” _Not in this drawer_ … “Mikasa would be mad probably. I can hear her argument right now. ‘You’d have a better life in the village, blah blah blah’.”

I moved to the next set of drawers. “Armin would have my back. At least I hope he would. If not, that’s fine.” _Not in here either_ … “Dad? He left us long ago. Bastard.” _Finally_ … “Who cares what they think, really. I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I can do as I please.” I took my shirt off and placed it onto Hanji’s stool. “Levi, I want you to know that I have little to no faith in Hanji’s experiment. If no one knew of a cure long ago, what makes you think this one will work now?”

I looked at Levi who shifted in his seat, still resting. My stomach hurt, my heart hurt, my emotions were running wild; my eyes became misty.

“I’m doing this, because I love you. I love you and I don’t want you to be lonely anymore.”

I let a few tears stream down my cheeks. With one hand, I placed the tip of the arrow against the right side of my chest. My other hand brought up the hammer and placed it at the thicker end of the arrow. I took a couple steady breaths to calm my nerves followed by one extra deep breath as I began to count down.

 _Three_ …

 _Two_ …

“Hey Eren, I’m back-”

“One.” I slammed the hammer against the arrow, forcing it deep into my chest. Blood splattered from the puncture and spilled down my torso. My equilibrium was thrown off as my mind began to spin and I fell to the ground.

“EREN! What- what are you doing! Why did you do this!?”

I could not answer. My brain was fogged and I couldn’t think over the pounding in my chest. I could feel the venomous tar spread through my veins. It stung far worse than I expected it to. My body was curled up into a tight ball, hand over the wound. My eyes started to sting. It felt like a thousand tiny pins sticking themselves into my skin; the sensation leading to the tip of my nose.

“Eren!” I could barely feel Hanji trying to pry me open. “Eren! Please!”

My body was so numb. I couldn’t move anymore, I couldn’t feel anymore, I couldn’t see anymore.

All I could do was hear.

“Hanji, what’s going on- why am I tied up?”

That was Levi’s voice.

Even though I couldn’t move, I’m pretty sure I passed out with a smile on my face.

**X**

“How long till he wakes up?”

“It’s been two days, Levi. Give him time.”

“I’m trying, Hanj.”

 _Voices_ … _I know those voices_.

“Look, he inherited the same marks as you.”

“I see that. Brown too.”

“It must correspond with the genetic code for hair color. Let me touch your face.”

“No-stop! Don’t touch me!”

“You never realized the marks are just tiny microscopic hairs?”

“I think you forget my whole hand is nothing BUT hair.”

In this state, I only had enough energy to listen. _Levi_ …

“Oh! I see a smile forming, Eren. Are you waking up sweetie?”

“What were you thinking, you idiot.”

 _Levi_ … _and_ _doctor_ … _Hanji_.

There was a sudden burst of pain near my temples. I cringed and cupped my face completely between my hands.

“Are you okay? Do you have a headache?”

I nodded slowly.

“Here, drink this. It’ll dull the pain for a bit.” I grabbed the small cup, allowing my eyes to open just a hair. I sipped on the liquid and handed the cup back to Hanji. I felt her gentle hands grab my wrist and pulled it away from my face. “It’s alright, Eren. You’re all cleaned up with only a few stitches. My magic healed what it could but that arrow had some nasty acidic properties that were stronger than I could imagine.”

“Exactly why it hurt like a bitch,” Levi added.

Her hand caressed my face. “Can I see your eyes?” Her voice was gentle just like her touch. I slowly squinted my eyes open and looked at Hanji. “Interesting.”

“What,” I weakly moaned.

“Would you like to see?” I nodded and looked over at Levi. His face was emotionless. Hanji came back and held up a mirror for me to look at. I didn’t recognize the person looking back at me. This person had dark marks around their golden- yellow eyes. I rubbed my face and looked again.

_My eyes were green last time I checked._

“What…-?”

“Your eyes changed colors once you pierced yourself. Levi’s did too when he was hit.” Levi nodded in agreement.

I was confused. My chest hurt, my face and head hurts, my spine is killing me. It could go for a nice cracking.

I sat up in the chair and raised my hands above my head causing each vertebrae to crack. _Much better_.

“Feel any different, kid?”

“Kinda, not really?”

“You won’t, it’s still early in your transformation. Remember how it took me a couple years for me to be done growing? Yeah, you’re going to go through that as well.”

I moaned. “How bad… does it hurt?”

“For me it felt like any old growth spurt, I told you this already. I just had to live with constant pain.”

“Eh.” That’s all I could produce.

“…Tired?”

“Yeah.”

“Go back to sleep then.”

**X**

I woke up on my own a couple more days later to a pounding headache and a slight burn to my lower back. I’m exhausted; both mentally and physically. I wasn’t in Dr. Hanji’s office anymore but instead in my own bedroom. I sat up in bed and wondered how exactly I got here. My eyes scanned the room around me, but only found that I was alone. A yawn escaped my mouth causing my eyes to water a bit.

The door handle jiggled slightly before fully being opened. I watched mom walk in with a basket of clean laundry.

“Oh! Morning sweetie, did you sleep well?”

“I guess.”

Mom sat the basket down onto the floor and walked over to my bedside. “Come here,” she said as she bent down to give me a tight hug. “My sweet baby, why did you do this?” Letting go of the hug, mom sat near the foot of the bed.

I couldn’t look at her in her eyes, it would be too painful to see her expression.

“Eren? Just give me one reason.”

“Did I do the wrong thing, mom? I-I don’t know what I was thinking, I just… want to be happy; for him to be happy.”

“Eren, you’re my son. You’re old enough to make your own decisions and I cannot stop you from whatever it is you want to do. Don’t be ashamed of what you did. Don’t ever be ashamed of doing something courageous for someone you love.”

“…thank you, mom. For the support and everything.”

“Hmhm, anything for my Eren!” She leaned over and kissed my forehead.

“So, where is everybody?”

“Well, Armin is out and about doing his own things and Levi left the village.”

“Wait, why?”

“Because Mikasa threatened to shoot him at bow point and said some pretty nasty things to him. Don’t worry, he’s fine. He said he’ll wait for you when you are ready to leave.”

“Mom… are you okay with that?”

“My baby’s got to spread his wings somehow.” I couldn’t help but smile at mom’s approval. “I know Levi is a good man, he’s proved it to me on many levels. He’s taken care of you after all these months and refuses to leave your side no matter what. He’s good for you, Eren.”

“Thank you.”

Mom chuckled and got up from her position on the bed. “Alright, mister. There’s your basket of clean clothes. Make sure you take enough with you when you’re ready to head on out.”

“I don’t think I’m leaving anytime soon with this headache.”

“Okay, honey. Are you able to walk by yourself? I’ll make you breakfast, your favorite!”

I nodded and slowly stood up. “I’m fine, I got this.” I walked around my room to prove my point.

“Hmhm, alright. Come down when you’re ready.” Mom’s footsteps slowly faded as she walked downstairs. It was probably a good idea I used the bathroom first being it feels like I haven’t done so in what feels like forever.

 _Sweet relief_.

Something had caught my eye before leaving the bathroom. I turned to look in the mirror and saw someone I didn’t recognize. This person had golden eyes and dark brown markings around each of them. I looked down my shirt to see stitches and a deep red gash across my chest. Wrinkles formed on my shirt from under my grasp.

I stared at my new facial features a bit more, taking in each detail possible.

“But did I really make the right choice.”

It was more of a rhetorical question meant for myself. Part of me says no. the other half says yes, I did make the right choice.

The smell of eggs and bacon had filled the air and it made my stomach gurgle. Making my way down the stairs, the smell got even better. It was one of the expensive bacons that gets imported from another village once a month. One of the most precious bacons ever and here it is in my kitchen being made for me.

“Thanks mom, you didn’t have to buy this for me.”

“I can’t treat my son once in a while?”

“Yeah, but save some for Mikasa and Armin okay? That stuff is pricey!”

“If you say so.” Mom practically danced while making me food. I want to know what’s going on in her head. Why is she so… happy?

“So mom… why didn’t you mention my eyes, mom?”

“Hm?”

“My eye color. Why didn’t you mention it?”

“Was I supposed to?”

“…no. But I’m different now. I’m changing. I won’t ever look like me again.”

“Yes you will don’t be silly. You’ll always look like Eren to me.”

“That’s not what I meant. I’ll turn into one of those… creatures. The kind that this whole town would kill in a heartbeat if caught.”

“Levi didn’t get caught. Except by Mikasa who like I said chased him out of here with her crossbow. Thankfully Dr. Hanji was here to tell us what really happened in her office.”

I fell silent. Mom passed out my plate with a nice heaping pile of scrambles eggs and sweet bacon.

“You’re in good hands Eren. You know that.”

“I know.”

“And you two are always welcomed to stay here whenever you’d like.”

“Thank you.”

Mom smiled and started to clean her cooking mess.

**X**

The rest of my week was spent in the company of my family. As the week came and went, I packed some belongings and said my goodbyes. Mom’s face was bright red and damp with tears to which I had to reassure her that this is not the last she’ll be seeing me. I wanted to visit the village as much as I could in between time spent with Levi.

Before I left, I had given mom the necklace I had made back at Nanaba’s just as a reminder. I wound up sneaking Levi’s porcelain figure into my bag before packing my clothing. If and when we settle down, I want that to be the very first piece of decoration to be set.

With a few final goodbyes from Armin and Mikasa, I left my house with one single bag slung over my shoulder and made my way to the gates of the village.

The morning sky was beaming down through the tree tops as I crunched my way through fallen leaves back to the outside world. I didn’t see any sign of that damn creature but then again why would he risk being seen in broad daylight. He’d show up eventually.

I hope.

I looked around the dense woods for any movement. Nothing.

 _He’s bound to be around here somewhere_.

“Ah!” My head started to pound. Just another headache, that’s all.

But the headache wasn’t the only thing I felt pounding on my head. Tiny little taps were landing on my crown followed by a tiny sound of something landing on the ground.

 _An acorn_?

A few more dropped onto my head before I looked up to see where they were coming from.

 _There you are_.

“Was the acorns necessary? Really?”

Levi simply smirked before climbing down from the tall tree. He came over to me and yanked on my collar, pulling me down for a tender kiss. Once he pulled away he pulled tightly onto my ear.

“Hey! Ow, that hurts!” He let go of my ear and stared into my eyes. “What was that for?”

“I love you. But you are an idiot.” Levi walked past me and led the way through the forest.

“Levi, what-” He stopped and looked at me dead in the eyes.

“Why did you do that? Why didn’t you give Hanji a chance? This could have all been fixed, Eren.”

“It is fixed.”

Levi frowned. “No it’s not! You were never meant to become a beast like me.”

“And you were never going to change back. If no one knows of a cure what makes you think Hanji’s was any better?” My face became flustered. “You look no different than before, Levi!”

“That may be but that’s what tests are for.”

“No need for those now. Why can’t you except that what I did was perfectly fine?”

“Because it’s not. I didn’t want to see you get hurt. Now look, you’re changing already and it’s only been a few days.”

“But listen, now that I’m changing we’re able to be with each other forever. Isn’t that amazing?”

Levi slowly turned back around and began walking. “I guess. Come on, we need to find shelter.”

I followed Levi with my head down, the crunching leaves being the only sound I heard. _He hates me now because of what I did. Shit._

It was silent the rest of the day. I didn’t dare speak due to the massive amount of guilt that was piled onto my chest.

Levi snuck his fingers into my palm and intertwined them with my own. I looked up and looked into his silver irises.

“Come on, it’s late. Well sleep up there.” Levi pointed to the dense canopy of leaves that must have been left by some sort of animal.

“I can’t climb.”

“I can. Get on my back and don’t let go.”

“You’re nuts,” I exclaimed as I did so anyway. Levi began to climb up the tree and into the empty nest. It was dark and the moonlight was bright by the time we called in a night.

I was exhausted both mentally and physically. I watched as Levi got comfortable and shut his eyes with a low “goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” I replied.

Once Levi was asleep, I took out his porcelain doll from my bag. I twisted the figure in my hands watching the moonlight bounce off of it. Now I’ll know what it feels like for Levi to be stuck in what he calls his prison.

I couldn’t help but lay there with a smile.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to thank you guys for sticking around, I really appreciate it! Remember, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns you can always find me on my blog!


	16. Short

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, long time no update :(   
> I apologize for my busy schedule and I'm sorry my fics have been put on the back burner. I'm hoping once the semester is over i'll have more time available for updates.   
> BUT I haven't forgotten about this fic and I wanted to say thank you for sticking around an being awesome <3 I love you guys thank you thank you!
> 
> AND I want to thank you for 12k+ hits! I never would have imagined this fic hitting that many hits and it makes me happy to see so many of you enjoy this fic! Thank you for sticking around and i hope you enjoy this rather short but fluffy chapter!

“So uh… hey Levi?”

It was a rather chilly day; the sun beaming through the once green foliage. The weather was slowly changing and each night got colder and colder. Leaves now lay on the ground in a multitude of colors.

Levi was walking ahead of me, taking me to our make-shift home. I watched as his tail flicked back and forth with each step he took, leaves crunching with each step.

“Levi.”

“Hm?”

“… Why are you so short?”

The crunching stopped as he whipped around to look at me dead in the eyes. “Do you want me to ditch your ass?”

“No… but I’m curious. Were you born a shrimp? Did the transformation do it to you? I want to know.”

His eyes slimmed into the deepest glare.  “Haven’t we discussed this before?”

“… Probably,” I shrugged.

 Levi sighed and continued to walk.

Over the past couple weeks, my feet have begun to ache and callous, mainly around my toes. Shoes made the pain hurt worse so I opted to abandon them. I knew I was changing, slowly but surely. My headaches only come in spurts that are unpredictable.

But other than that, I feel fine everywhere else.

I quickened my pace to match Levi’s and strolled next to him, snaking my hand into his.

“So… you were born short? Like with short people genes?”

“Eren…”

“I guess I never really thought about your shortness until now,”

“Eren… shut up.”

I snickered.

“I’m only teasing, you know that.”

No reply.

So I started to swing our hands to the rhythm of our steps, gradually singing faster and faster until Levi pulled his hand away from mine.

“No fun,” I said. It was now my goal to annoy the shit out of this grumpy old man.

“So did gravity make you short? Because I heard when you get older, gravity puts pressure on your bones which makes you smaller, or something like that. I don’t remember what exactly Armin said but close enough.”

No reply.

I poked his cheeks, blew on his ears, leaned on him, but he was not giving me the satisfaction of his reply.

“Leviiiiiiii~ why won’t you talk to me?”

“… were you born with annoying genes or something!?”

“Come on you love it~.”

“I do not.”

“Come on, don’t lie to me,” I pouted. He ignored me yet again as we came across our temporary home in the tree tops.

“Ready?” he asked.

I smirked and wrapped my arms around his body as he began to scale the tree. I wasn’t ready for bed so I opted to stare at Levi as he tried to get comfortable. I sat next to Levi, watching him stretch his bones every which way possible before settling for good.

But I wasn’t done busting his chops.

I placed my hand on his thigh and slowly slid it inward.

“Eren-” Levi warned before I began to tickle the inside of his thighs. He tried to hold it in but soon the tree top was filled with laughter.

 _So glad I found his tickly spot_.

“EREN STOP!” Levi kicked and squirmed but I soon had him pinned, unable to escape. His hands gripped my wrists trying to pull them away.

His laughter was so rare which made it damn cute. I couldn’t help but laugh with him.

“PLEASE!?”

“Say I love you and maybe I will~”

“I-I LOVE YOU OKAY DAMMIT!?” I let go and kissed his forehead. “You’re such an annoying brat and you know that. You’re lucky I put up with you or else you’ll be sleeping on the ground.”

“Yeah yeah, just kiss me dammit.”

He kissed me before running his hand through my mop of hair. I looked down at his face as he ran his hands in it a few more times.

“Hey Eren,” Levi said.

“Hm?” I say as I lay on top of him, using him as a personal pillow.

“I think I know the source of your headaches. Let me see you head.” He leaned my head down and sifted through the hairs. A smile formed on his face once he was finished looking.

“What?”

Levi chuckled.

“Congratulations kid, you’ve got horns.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I want to draw these two as a thank you for reading and sticking around for updates!)

**Author's Note:**

> Ok! Hi!  
> SO this is my first fanfic.....ever. Go easy on me please???  
> I hope you enjoy the story as we progress!  
> If you were interested i will be posting the chapters on my tumblr page!  
> Feel free to follow me at assassinsneedlovetoo.tumblr.com


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